It’s a huge racing weekend for Leopardstown who host the Dublin Racing Festival, and we have a solid selection from of their events to complement a Grade One pick at Sandown and some good value flat selections too.
1.11 Lingfield (Kachy Stakes – Listed Race) – MISTY GREY
This is the first running of the Kachy Stakes, a race named after the four-time Lingfield winner trained to such good effect by Tom Dascombe and ridden by Richard Kingscote.
The same trainer/jockey combination could yet win his inaugural race too. Their Misty Grey, coming here on the back of a hat-trick, has likely been laid out for this contest but the gelding’s form entitles him to have a strong shout anyway.
True, his wins have come on the Tapeta at Wolverhampton, but having made a good all-weather debut over a mile at Kempton and then been successful over seven furlongs, he seems to be getting quicker and we know Dascombe can trainer them for speed. Aberama Gold, Tinto and Summerghand also made the list.
1.45 Lingfield (Winter Derby Trial Stakes – Listed Race) – FOREST OF DEAN
John Gosden knows this division very well having secured second place in it last year with Court House, before going on to train the first two home in the Winter Derby itself.
His Forest Of Dean, now in the Godolphin colours, won two competitive handicaps on the turf in 2019 when owned by Princess Haya and was very much going the right way before taking an injury.
After 16 months off he made a very satisfactory return in January when third of four at Wolverhampton behind today’s rivals Felix and Bangkok (beaten only a length), and it is thought that much like the 2020 Winter Derby winner Dubai Warrior he can go on to become a group performer.
He should be able to improve past his two old rivals now, while Red Verdon can also make his mark on this surface. Rab Havlin rides.
1.50 Sandown (Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase – Grade 1) – HITMAN
Another good renewal of this top-quality novice event, one in which we could see a performance from Hitman that may put him right in the running for Cheltenham Festival honours next month.
Paul Nicholls’ five-year-old is the youngest of the main contenders and while on its own that isn’t always a good thing, he has looked tough enough in his two chase races to date.
After winning ever so easily on soft ground on his debut over fences as a 3/1 shot, he ran a cracker in the Henry VIII here at Sandown to finish second to Allmankind. With that experience behind him he should be that bit closer to Grade 1 form, he was staying on there which is a good sign for this step up in trip and he’s in the right hands.
Not far behind on my ratings in the conditions is Shan Blue for the Skelton’s who is on a four-timer, while Messire Des Obeaux and Dame De Compagnie may yet hit the heights.
2.16 Lingfield (Handicap) – SYMBOLIC POWER
It’s a little irregular to see a Charlie Appleby horse in a Class 4 handicap and at the time of writing it’s unclear what sort of price we can expect about this Symbolic Power, but he is a very solid proposition.
While the others, even last-time-out winners Coupe De Champagne and Swinton Noon, look handicapped to near their best, Symbolic Power’s rating of 82 at the top of the weights appears to underestimate him.
Charlie Appleby and Godolphin had a quieter time with their juveniles last season, largely owing to the change in schedule, and it’s expected that they will have plenty of three-year-olds now being described as dark horses.
This horse won’t necessarily go on to become a group performer but he’s coming along nicely, handles this track and looks likely to improve past the rest. Adam Kirby rides.
2.20 Sandown (Cotswold Chase – Grade 2) – BRISTOL DE MAI
We’re getting a very different Cotswold Chase this year after Trials Day at Cheltenham was abandoned, but that’s not to say that the winner of this race won’t feature highly in the betting for the Gold Cup in March.
This rearranged race still has a high-quality field, last year’s narrow Gold Cup second Santini being the subject of many of the bets while Native River will be as popular as ever.
Saint Calvados is frankly overpriced for this in receipt of 6lbs, but the one who still looks good enough to land this event if not the Gold Cup is Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Bristol De Mai.
Many things have been said about him in the past; “he won’t be beaten at Haydock”, “he can only win at Haydock”, “he can’t go right-handed” etc, but that of course is all nonsense.
The fact is that he is just a damn good three-mile chaser, especially on soft ground, and so given the potential flaws in his opponents when it comes to underfoot conditions and/or the even three-mile trip, he on balance looks the best of the bunch.
3.15 Leopardstown (Irish Champion Hurdle – Grade 1) – SHARJAH
The Dublin Racing Festival is absolutely top-notch and, in my mind if not in many others, it has provided horses and trainers competing there with an advantage at Cheltenham given that they are very much match fit when they get to the big one in March.
Races such as the Irish Champion Hurdle are massive in their own right of course, and this year we may well see Willie Mullins’ Sharjah truly coming of age.
Already a winner of four Grade One races, he wasn’t at his best in this contest last year behind the likely favourite for this renewal, Honeysuckle, but he’s in truly flying form going into the race.
The track, trip and the ground will have him at his best, while the hitherto unbeaten Honeysuckle has arguably been better over two-and-a-half miles and so a slight upset could be on the cards here.
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