It’s eight days late, and taking place on a Monday, but the racing world finally gets the chance to see Galopin Des Champs start a potential Gold Cup-winning campaign at Punchestown.
Last season’s top novice lines up against half a dozen rivals in the Grade One John Durkan Chase due off at 2.10 and shown live on RTÉ’s news channel (Sky 517 and Virgin 200).
Rejigged TV arrangements reflect the improvisational atmosphere of racing taking place, although the abandonment of Navan’s Sunday card points to how welcome it is to see action at all.
That cancellation forced Horse Racing Ireland into switching the Grade Two Navan Novice Hurdle to Naas on Tuesday. A chase scheduled for Sunday has been added to Wednesday’s Fairyhouse fixture.
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However, the makeshift nature of this unexpected and unwanted eve of Christmas racing glut is underlined by Naas having to pass a 10am inspection on Monday.
The Durkan delay is hardly ideal for the Galopin Des Champs camp although Willie Mullins’s willingness to stick with it, rather than opt for any Christmas of new year alternative, highlights how suitable a start-off point this two-and-a-half mile contest is.
A roll of honour featuring subsequent Gold Cup heroes such as Kicking King and Don Cossack testifies to the Durkan’s pedigree in identifying future ‘Blue Riband’ talent.
Galopin Des Champs was a Grade One winner at three miles over hurdles so the pace he showed in four chase starts short of that trip quickly identified him as an exceptional prospect.
Usually a spectacular jumper, his dramatic final fence exit at Cheltenham left an indelible impression last season.
At the time, having spectacularly left Bob Olinger in is wake prior to the spill was viewed through a rather different prism than it is now, given the latter’s growing status as something of an enigma.
Another rout of Master McShee by Galpin Des Champs subsequent to that exit at Fairyhouse will have some form-experts quibbling too.
But the handicapper saw enough overall to give Galopin Des Champs a hefty official mark of 172.
That puts him firmly in the Gold Cup mix, which allied to expected improvement from a six-year-old makes his position at the top of the Gold Cup betting not unexpected.
Throw in how the reigning hero A Plus Tard fluffed his lines so spectacularly at Haydock last month and the opportunity exists for the pretender to the throne to put his stamp on the Gold Cup picture.
So, should Galopin Des Champs do to Fakir D’oudairies what he routinely did to novice opposition, then the Cheltenham betting is in for a significant shake-up.
Joseph O’Brien’s stalwart is a proven top-flight four-time Grade One winner racing over what looks his ideal distance and is the only one of these whose official rating is within hailing distance of his rival.
Fakir D’oudairies has more than once had to give best to another Mullins star in Allaho, so the champion trainer should have an accurate line to what looks the big threat to Galopin Des Champs.
“We eventually get to run the John Durkan and we’re happy to run this horse in it,” Mullins said on Sunday in his column for sportinglife.com.
“He’s been doing everything right at home ahead of his first run of the season. I think he’s very well with Fakir D’Oudairies the main rival and a tough nut to crack.
“It’s his first run too but he’s a specialist two-and-a-half miler and it will be a tough race. A clear round and coming home safe and sound are my two priorities with a view to his next run, but it would be good to win on Monday if we could,” he added
That Mullins already has an eye on Galopin Des Champs’ next start is not surprising, just as his habit of not talking up his horses beforehand isn’t.
Nevertheless, even in a context where expectations around National Hunt stars such as Constitution Hill and even Mullins’s hugely exciting novice, Facile Vega, are huge there is real anticipation surrounding Galopin Des Champs.
If scepticism remains about the actual form of what he did as a novice, then few will quibble with the impression he made.
Fakir D’oudairies at his best is a legitimate test, and with a win under his belt already this season, the Grade One winner Fury Road could prove a benchmark too.
Even if it is on a Monday, the finding out will be a reassuring return to normal service following the lengthy weather interruption.
Although he’s a couple of years older than Galopin Des Champs, Appreciate It only begins his career over fences in the following beginners’ chase.
The 2021 Supreme winner couldn’t be got ready in time for a novice campaign last season but the ex-point-to-point winner has always looked a chaser in the making.
