The pecking order in the two-mile Champion Chase division could look very different on the back of this weekend’s feature-race action in Britain and Ireland.
If last weekend focused on the Champion Hurdle and the week before that on Gold Cup contenders, the spotlight is now very much on those top horses that race at speed over the minimum trip.
Il Etait Temps is odds-on to score for Willie Mullins in Saturday’s Betfair Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown where he takes on the leading cross-channel pair, Jonbon and L’Eau Du Sud.
However, such is the reputation of his stable companion Majborough that many suspect the real reverberations – in terms of betting for Cheltenham’s Queen Mother Champion Chase in March – will come in Cork 24 hours later.
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Beaten once in four starts over fences as a novice, Majborough takes on a quartet of opponents including Mullins’ stalwart, Energumene, in the €100,000 Bar 1 Hilly Way Chase (live on RTÉ2 and ITV4).
Energumene, a dual-Champion Chase winner, will try to become a first four-time winner of the Hilly Way. His success in the Grade Two last year came on the back of Banbridge’s final-fence exit. The subsequent King George winner is also back in Mallow again to kick off his season.
Throw in the race-fit Fortria winner, Found A Fifty, and this is a race to savour. Like the Tingle Creek, it has only a handful of runners. But as the climax to last Sunday’s Hatton’s Grace underlined, small numbers don’t prevent exciting finishes.
Nevertheless, much will revolve around Majborough’s first try in open company.
He is already disputing Cheltenham favouritism with the reigning champion Marine Nationale, who’s waiting until Christmas to reappear. Should Majborough win in style, it will announce a new kid on the two-mile block. But he has plenty to prove.
The impression of how his jumping fell apart in that one novice defeat in Cheltenham’s Arkle still lingers. That he almost managed to win does too.
Energumene is at the veteran stage, Banbridge is all but sure to step up in trip in future and Found A Fifty is perhaps just shy of the very best. Even so, it should still provide a worthy test of Majborough’s jumping technique.
Mullins has dominated the Hilly Way like few other races, with 16 victories in the last 18 years.
Cork’s other Grade Two is the Coolmore Novice event for Mares, where last season’s County Hurdle winner Kargese starts out over fences. It’s a big ask first time out and if conditions get very testing, her old rival Kala Conti’s stamina and greater experience could come to the fore.
Sandown’s jumping test proved no bother to Il Etait Temps last Spring, although very testing ground might now provide the diminutive grey with a different challenge.
Mullins immediately targeted the Tingle Creek following that Celebration Chase victory and Il Etait Temps enjoyed a routine warm-up at Clonmel last month.
In the past, jumping out of very deep going has appeared to be an effort for the admirable four-time Grade One winner over fences. Jonbon is in pursuit of a Tingle Creek hat-trick but may not appreciate a slog either. In contrast, L’Eau Du Sud would relish it for the in-form Skelton team.
L’Eau Du Sud mixed it with Majborough in last season’s Arkle but looked to have taken a step up in performance when proving much too good for Jonbon at Cheltenham on his reappearance.
“We didn’t know what to expect that day taking on Jonbon. We were very taken by what he did, and he has been fresh and well since. We had him fit for Cheltenham so we haven’t had to work hard to bring him forward,” Dan Skelton told his Ladbrokes sponsors.
“The trip is fine, he won on the card last year and although it’ll be hard taking on Jonbon with a run under his belt, Il Etait Temps will be very hard to beat. He’s bombproof and they can ride him whatever way they want."
Danny Mullins has been a regular partner of Il Etait Temps in recent seasons and upset the apparent stable pecking order. But he’s firmly number one this time with Paul Townend aiming to secure a first Tingle Creek success, and a first Irish winner since Un De Sceaux in 2016.
A surge of popular support is likely for 13-year-old Roi Mage when he takes his chance in the Becher Chase over Aintree’s famous National fences on Saturday.
The Patrick Griffin-trained veteran has run seventh and ninth in a pair of Grand Nationals and proved he’s no back number when landing a Cross-Country contest in Craon in September. His opposition includes top-weight Mr Vango and the former Topham winner Bill Baxter.
