Always one of the most anticipated times of year for racing fans, the 2024 festive period delivered in style. From Banbridge’s late charge to break the heart of Il Est Francais in the King George to Val Dancer providing Mel Rowley with a breakout success in the Welsh National, Christmas crackers were in plentiful supply.
As ever, the Irish did their bit to add to the yuletide feast with the Leopardstown Christmas Festival. Kicking off on Boxing Day alongside its Kempton counterpart, the four-day event crammed in an impressive six Grade 1 contests. There was no shortage of stars strutting their stuff in front of the packed stands, but two in particular stole the spotlight.
Champs Too Good in Savills Chase
The headline act on Day 3 saw a field of crack staying chasers go to post in the Savills Chase. Included amongst that number was the reigning king of the division, Galopin Des Champs, who took his next stride towards a third consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cup crown.
Despite those stellar Cheltenham Festival performances in 2023 and 2024, the mount of Paul Townend had a slight question to answer, having tasted defeat in his past two starts. No match for Fastorslow in the Punchestown Gold Cup on his final run of 2023/24, he finished behind both Fact To File and Spillane’s Tower on his seasonal return in the John Durkan Memorial Chase.
In a field containing his John Durkan conqueror Fact To File, Cheltenham and Aintree Festival winner Inothewayurthinkin, and 2022 Savills Chase winner Conflated, Galopin Des Champs would need to return to something like his best to prevail. Which, of course, he did.
Stepping up to a trip far more suitable than the 2m3½f of the John Durkan, Paul Townend left little to chance. Immediately sent into the lead, Galopin Des Champs set out to make the running and expose any chinks in the stamina of his rivals. Stablemate Fact To File briefly emerged as a threat two from home, but when push came to shove, Galopin Des Champs had much more in the locker. Whilst not quite as impressive as his 23l demolition of the field in the 2023 edition, he was still 7½l clear of Fact To File at the line. With that horse deemed the biggest threat to his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown, this was an authoritative display from the reigning champ.
Having briefly lost his place atop the market to Fact To File, Galopin Des Champs is now the clear favourite for a third Gold Cup success at a general price of 6/5.
Brighterdaysahead Simply Breathtaking
As impressive as Galopin Des Champs was, the most staggering display at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival came in the Neville Hotels Hurdle on the final day. Following a ¾l defeat to Brighterdaysahead on his comeback outing in the Morgiana Hurdle, State Man started as the red-hot 4/9F to gain his revenge. As the current Champion Hurdle king and having landed the past two editions of this event in effortless style, it’s not hard to see why punters were so confident about his chances.
However, the favourite never looked like landing the odds as Brighterdayasahead confirmed the Morgiana form in devastating style. Quickly onto the heels of pacesetting stablemate King Of Kingsfield, Brighterdaysahead followed the ferocious gallop as State Man and the rest seemed content to wait. Surely the frenetic fractions were unsustainable, and the leading duo would come back to the field.
For King Of Kingsfield, that was true, with the mount of Danny Gilligan dropping back to finish down in fifth. Not so Brighterdaysahead, who, rather than fade, forged on in magnificent style – pulling further and further ahead of her toiling rivals, the five-year-old was fully 31 lengths clear at the line. The dazzling visual impression was firmly backed up by the clock, which revealed the Gigginstown star had bettered the standard time by almost five seconds, a huge margin.
With Constitution Hill dismissing Lossiemouth in the Christmas Hurdle, Brighterdaysahead looks like the biggest threat to the Nicky Henderson star in the Champion Hurdle. She’s into a best price of 11/2 (from a pre-race 20/1), but an alternative tilt at the easier Mares Hurdle remains on the table.