Willie Mullins could be forgiven for watching the first Grade One prize of the National Hunt season through his fingers even if his old ally Ruby Walsh manages to win it on Valseur Lido.
Both Valseur Lido and Don Poli were among the 60 horses removed from the champion trainer's care by Michael O'Leary in September in a disagreement over training fees.
The first top-flight impact of that dramatic move may be felt in Down Royal’s JNwine Champion Chase. O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud team has won the €140,000 highlight in four of the last five years and their trio of hopefuls, which also includes Galway Plate hero, Lord Scoundrel, form the bulwark of a home defence against the favourite Silviniaco Conti.
The dual-King George winner will attempt to give Britain's champion trainer Paul Nicholls a fifth win in the race and is joined by Kim Bailey's Grand National runner up, The Last Samurai.
But despite that cross-channel flavour there remains plenty local significance to this.
Another ex-Mullins star, Outlander, is among another trio of Gigginstown runners in the Grade Two Titanic Belfast Chase, the best of which could wind up being Sub Lieutenant who may provide Henry De Bromhead with a major big-race double if the O'Leary team successfully flex their ownership muscle today.
De Bromhead tried and failed a few times to successfully stretch Sizing Europe’s stamina in Down Royal’s big event of the year but in Valseur Lido he has inherited a horse who looks like he should relish the three mile trip.
Given very decent ground conditions it is little wonder Walsh has chosen Valseur Lido rather than the mud-loving Don Poli, especially since he must know the potential this horse has over three miles.
After Walsh was unseated in last winter's Irish Gold Cup , Valseur Lido wound up getting fitted into the Ryanair at Cheltenham but the suspicion remains that if he is to hit the heights it will be over three miles plus.
On ratings he has to find 6lbs with Silviniaco Conti but the home hope could still be on the up while the raider is now a veteran. Willie Mullins's seven weekend runners are split between Cork and Naas on Sunday but they are numerically dwarfed by Gigginstown's 25 declarations while Gordon Elliott also has a massive 25 scheduled runners this weekend.
The odds are then that Elliott will stretch the lead over his great rival in the trainer's championship and in Bryan Cooper's continuing injury absence, and with Walsh on duty at Cork, Barry Geraghty is on The Game Changer in Naas's Grade Three Chase. The De Bromhead trained Alisier d'Irlande may prove the solution in that.
