Potential Grade One Christmas festival rejig to be examined in Leopardstown review

A potential rejig to Leopardstown’s Grade One Christmas festival schedule is set to be examined in the coming weeks although officials there have warned any such moves would be far from a straightforward task.

Ahead of New Year’s Day action at Tramore and Fairyhouse, a review is already being planned of last week’s flagship Christmas Festival at Leopardstown where official attendance levels reached just over 62,000 during the four days.

That was up on the corresponding 2022 figure of 60,478 and occurred despite poor weather conditions in the middle of the week.

If the racing highlight for many was Galopin Des Champs’ superb success in the Savills Chase, his task was eased when old rival Fastorslow bypassed the race, taken out in the morning by trainer Martin Brassil due to testing ground conditions.

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Brassil pointedly referenced an absence of fresh ground on the steeplechase course for the Grade One highlight. That was on the back of the 27-runner Paddy Power Chase being run the day before.

With Leopardstown’s traditional St Stephen’s Day highlight, the Racing Post Novice Chase, scrapped for 2024, the possibility of one of the festival’s other six Grade One features being switched to replace it was already being looked at.

However, Leopardstown’s chief executive, Tim Husbands, said on Sunday the logistics of that, or any other possible reshuffle, would be far from simple.

“We all need to sit down and talk about from a track point of view, from creating the best conditions for the best races, and balancing it up with sponsors’ requirements,” said Husbands. “It’s quite complicated, not straightforward; we will look at things over the next couple of weeks.”

Limerick’s only Grade One race, the Guinness Faugheen Novice Chase, was moved last week from its old St Stephen’s Day slot to day three of the four-day festival. It took place 20 minutes before the Savills at Leopardstown.

The Foxrock track’s next big date is the Dublin Racing Festival (February 3rd-4th) which could see a rare British-trained runner in action.

No cross-channel trained horse lined up at Leopardstown during Christmas but the Triumph Hurdle favourite Burdett Road might be a welcome traveller for the Spring Juvenile Hurdle.

The James Owen-trained star, a Royal Ascot winner on the flat, missed out on his intended start at Chepstow last week due to testing ground and connections are keen to get a pre-Cheltenham run into him.

“He will either go to Cheltenham on Trials Day and he will also have an entry for Leopardstown in early February,” Owen said.

“It [Leopardstown] is an early closer, it’s very good prize money and he doesn’t get a penalty in it. It’s an option we want to have, and we will decide nearer the time. It’s six weeks out from Cheltenham, so would give us plenty of time,” he added.

Ireland’s traditional New Year’s Day dates in Fairyhouse and Tramore kick-off 2024 with the Willie Mullins team having hit top gear over Christmas.

A total of 16 winners at Leopardstown and Limerick took Mullins past the €3 million prize money mark for the season, and within less than €200,000 of Gordon Elliott at the top of the trainers’ championship.

Despite Mullins saddling three of the seven runners in Tramore’s Grade Three highlight, champion jockey Paul Townend has opted to go to Fairyhouse instead.

Allegorie De Vassy is the standout among Townend’s three rides in the Grade Three John & Chich Fowler Mares’ Chase.

She returned to action with a Clonmel defeat of her stable companion Instit, who renews rivalry at a track where she got the better of the argument last Easter.

Elliott’s Riviere D’etel comes out marginally ahead on figures but this trip on testing ground looks to give Allegorie De Vassy the edge.

Nick Rockett also looks a likely Townend winner, although his maiden hurdle mount, I Will Be Baie, will do well to overcome My Trump Card who has experience over flights from last season.

Danny Mullins has half a dozen mounts in Tramore including Classic Getaway for his uncle in the Savills Chase there.

Although Both Bronn and Monkfish are more high-profile than Classic Getaway the latter impressed on his return to action and may yet come close to justifying his startlingly high £570,000 purchase price back in 2020.

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