LEOPARDSTOWN FESTIVAL DAY TWO PREVIEW:THERE WILL be a familiar vibe to today's featured Grade One on the second day of Leopardstown's Christmas Festival meeting as some of the established stars of the two-mile chasing division face off again in the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase with the ex-champion Big Zeb fancied to emerge best again.
Winner of this race in 2009 en-route to landing a memorable Queen Mother Champion Chase crown at the Cheltenham Festival, Big Zeb lost his title last season to the Henry De Bromhead-trained Sizing Europe but still looks a potent force at the highest level.
After an impressive return to action in last month’s Fortria at Navan, Colm Murphy’s veteran star lines up against just five opponents in this afternoon’s €100,000 event and one thing punters can’t complain about will be an absence of form to help them out.
Big Zeb’s old rival Golden Silver, winner of this race last Christmas, is back for another crack and this will be the eighth occasion in which this pair of minimum distance top-notchers have clashed.
There will be plenty willing to forgive Golden Silver a rather lack-lustre first start of the season in Cork – where he looked decidedly lucky to win – and opting to back him against Big Zeb on the basis of soft ground and a bigger price.
It’s worth noting, though, how in their seven previous clashes, Big Zeb has emerged best of the pair half a dozen times with Golden Silver’s sole victory coming in last season’s Tied Cottage Chase where he looked to get the run of the race.
All told Big Zeb looks to have his measure, and Forpadydeplasterer’s, so his big threat today could come from the comparative new kid on the block, Noble Prince, who teams up again with Tony McCoy.
Paul Nolan’s 2011 Cheltenham winner is already a 14 to 1 shot in ante-post betting for March’s Champion Chase and presents something of an “unknown factor” in terms of today’s race.
However, the bare form tells us he came up a couple of lengths short against Big Zeb in the Fortria and even slightly better going now doesn’t look enough to bridge that gap.
Those prepared to bank on the hotpot Sous Les Cieux in today’s other Grade One, the Future Champion Novice Hurdle, might do well to consider the similarities to last year’s renewal.
Just five lined up on that occasion too and Zaidpour, an impressive winner of the Royal Bond earlier in the month who also carried the Rich Ricci colours, started a 1 to 4 favourite to win in a stroll.
Instead he ended up beaten by a genuine top-class novice in First Lieutenant who chose that race to give a glimpse of his true potential.
Noel Meade runs both Dylan Ross and Formidableopponent while Cash And Go and Ballysteen are decent performers too.
However, even bearing last year in mind, it’s hard to go against the latest star Ricci novice who made light of concerns about dropping back to two miles when beating Galileo’s Choice at Fairyhouse.
The aftermath of that race saw connections on all sides testify to its quality. Today will be a test of those claims that Sous Les Cieux should pass with flying colours.
John Kiely will aim to secure the big Paddy Power Chase prize with Head Of The Posse but he will also have an eye on the handicap hurdle where Reizovic carries the McManus colours.
The former high-class bumper performer ran into a decent one in Dedigout at Navan recently and this looks a good opportunity for him.
McManus’s colours will be represented in the opening three-year-old hurdle by Sportsmaster, a winner on the flat at the Curragh and Roscommon last summer. Willie Mullins introduces the ex-French Sarabad in this and the danger of underestimating such imports is obvious.
Mullins can also strike with the former former top bumper performer Aupcharlie while Dermot Weld introduces an interesting newcomer in the finale in Expanding Universe who is by the super-sire Galileo.
