Cheltenham festival success is always tagged as the ultimate dream but Vautour's presence in the Ryanair Chase line-up brings with it a sense of the race being reduced to "consolation-prize" status.
On the back of the controversial decision by Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci to opt for this race rather than the Gold Cup, punters are immediately left to decide if even a horse as talented as Vautour is worth backing should, as Ricci stated, he be firing on only 90 per cent of all cylinders.
If the horse who put up one of the most spectacular novice displays of modern times in last year’s JLT manages to win despite not operating on full throttle, it will be a notable achievement and a first Irish-trained winner of the race.
What it would do for the Ryanair’s reputation in the longer term is more debatable.
Already painted in middle-child colours, created to pad out a four-day festival, fending for itself at an intermediate distance in the middle of the week, and even labelled ‘the race no one wants to win’ in some quarters earlier this season, the Ryanair continues to get overlooked in most affections bar, naturally, its sponsor.
Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud team has finished runner-up on three occasions during its 10-year sponsorship and both Road To Riches and Valseur Lido have been diverted from the Gold Cup to try and go one better.
Strident criticism
However it is Vautour’s diversion which continues to be the inevitable focus with strident criticism of both Mullins and Ricci over a perceived high-handedness in terms of their attitude to punters about the horse’s running plans this week.
If it’s easy to suspect Ricci was simply letting his mouth run too fast when announcing a couple of weeks ago that it was the Gold Cup or home for Vautour. Mullins’s comments that he had the Ryanair in mind all along are very relevant in the context of this race.
A peak-form Vautour would surely beat this opposition comfortably. He looks to be priced accordingly. And yet we’re told he hasn’t been working near his best. From a betting point of view there could be value to be had elsewhere.
Even with both their ‘Dons’ in the Gold Cup, the O’Leary team are gambling a lot on switching Valseur Lido, and particularly perhaps, Road To Riches, to the Ryanair.
On good ground, last year's 'blue-riband' third could easily have been a major player and even trainer Noel Meade believes he won't have the pace to operate effectively at the shorter distance, something that possibly explains why his name figures among the Gold Cup's final declarations.
Bounced back
Opting for the oldest horse in the race mightn’t be an obvious ‘play’ with other Irish hopes like Smashing and Gilgamboa involved but there is still plenty to like about Al Ferof’s chance.
Winner of the Supreme Hurdle all of five years ago, the Ryanair actually appears a perfect fit in terms of trip and ground for Al Ferof who has bounced back to something like his best after transferring to Dan Skelton's yard.
“Given the run I’ve had with him I’ve got absolutely no excuses whatsoever: so if he goes and finishes third behind a couple of younger horses that’s racing,” his new trainer said recently.
Crucially he comes into it fresh after making the King George frame for the second time in his career so double-figure odds encourage a similarly philosophical attitude. Perhaps most crucially of all, the Ryanair has been his aim all season.
