It’s an old chestnut proposition but still interesting to ponder what odds Fastorslow might be for Thursday’s Savills Chase if he were trained by either Willie Mullins or Gordon Elliott.
Racing’s big guns attack the €175,000 day-three Christmas festival feature in strength with Mullins’s five-strong team headed by no less than the Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs.
Gerri Colombe is already among the main threats to his Blue Riband crown in March and the apple of Elliott’s eye is joined by last year’s Savills winner Conflated.
Any horse’s connections usually get factored into its starting price and none more so than when it comes to Mullins and Elliott.
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That has been underlined on the run-up to Thursday’s eagerly anticipated highlight with Galopin Des Champs topping lists to emerge top of Ireland’s Gold Cup pile.
However, making that argument requires overlooking the black-and-white reality of how the Mullins star has come up short on both occasions he has run into Fastorslow.
The first of those came at Punchestown when Martin Brassil’s star sprang a shock. Dismissing it as a typical end-of-season aberration looked plausible until the same outcome occurred in last month’s Durkan.
Appreciate It split the two rivals on that occasion but over an inadequate trip Fastorslow still managed to be decisively on top at the line.
Admittedly, the trip was also short of Galopin Des Champs’s best, and there has been plenty of debate since about how restrained tactics possibly contributed to a less-than-convincing jumping display.
Nevertheless, his record against Fastorslow is 0-2 while Gerri Colombe’s progressive profile still leaves him short on official ratings. It’s hard not to suspect those facts would be much more readily reflected in the betting if Fastorslow’s connections were more fashionable.
That Brassil’s ability to hit the big-race bullseye given proper ammunition has been repeatedly advertised since Numbersixvalverde’s 2006 Aintree National triumph adds to a sense that his latest star’s ability continues to be underestimated.
If he can emerge victorious in a top-flight three-mile contest at the height of winter, and against the very best around, then selling him short will look even more foolish.
Leopardstown’s other Grade One, the Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle, has last year’s winner Home By The Lee coming up against a potential new staying star in Irish Point.
In the conditions, this will be a true stamina test for Irish Point’s first try at the three-mile trip although his success at Down Royal last month suggests if he does relish it then he has more than enough class to win.
Home By The Lee is a proven stamina article though and in the circumstances that could appeal to punters more.
Irish Point’s stable companion Absolute Notions can boast Grade One form of his own and might prove to be a blot on the Pertemps Hurdle handicap with Danny Gilligan’s 5lb claim thrown in.
Gilligan is also on board Hunting Brook for Elliott in an earlier handicap hurdle and in the conditions, his claim could prove invaluable.
With Paul Townend on duty at Leopardstown, Patrick Mullins gets the prized mount on Gaelic Warrior in Limerick’s Grade One feature on Thursday.
An outstanding winner of his first start over fences at Punchestown, Gaelic Warrior looks a standout for the €100,000 Guinness Faugheen Novice Chase.
“It looks an ideal race for him on soft ground, going right-handed over an intermediate trip,” Mullins said.
The Mullins team also run Il Etait Temps in the race but if there is one to shake up the hot favourite it looks like being American Mike. The one-time top bumper performer was verging on becoming something of a busted flush only to impress when beating Fact To File at Navan last month.
Happy Dreams, twice a course and distance winner, is bottom weight for the €45,000 Listed chase and should relish the testing conditions.
Cadoudal Saint is a Mullins newcomer in the bumper although he will have to be smart to cope with Gordon Elliott’s Staffordshire Knot. He was an eye-catching third over hurdles at Cork on his previous start and this switch back to the level looks significant.
