The five-time Grade One winner Impaire Et Passe could return to action in Saturday’s Grade Two Red Mills Chase at Gowran in advance of a potential tilt at the Cheltenham festival.
Impaire Et Passe is as low as 7-1 in some antepost betting lists for next month’s Ryanair Chase, although he also holds an entry in the Gold Cup.
Out of action since being brought down at Punchestown last season, he is one of a handful of Willie Mullins-trained entries for the €45,000 Gowran contest this weekend.
Before his Punchestown spill, Impaire Et Passe had won twice at the top level in his novice chase campaign, including a victory at Aintree. A triple Grade One winner over flights, he scored at the 2023 Cheltenham festival in the Turners.
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The 2024 winner, Saint Sam, is also among Mullins’s prospective Red Mills runners as the champion trainer tries to win it for a fifth year in a row.
Sunday’s €100,000 Punchestown feature, the 1xbet Grand National Trial, has 21 left in after Tuesday’s acceptance stage. Gordon Elliott has won the last three renewals and has eight potential starters this time. Ground conditions at Punchestown are soft to heavy on the chase course.
Haydock hosts its Grand National Trial on Saturday with Dan Skelton’s Deafening Silence topping most betting lists for the 3½ mile test. Victory could set the horse up for a tilt at the Aintree National in April. He ran third to Haiti Couleurs in December’s Welsh National.
“I’ve had this race in mind for some time after the Welsh Grand National, as he is obviously liking those marathon trips. I think he is in really good form and the track will suit him ... It was a great run in the Welsh Grand National and I was very proud. It would have been nice to have been a couple of places further up, but those marathon distances, you have got to be respectful when they are there at the end, as it is a big effort for them,” said Skelton.
“We have entered him in the Grand National because he is a stayer and if he got in it would be an interesting entry.
“He has got a lot of horses to come out to get into the Grand National so I would say at the moment that is looking unlikely because of his handicap mark, but you have got to be in it if you want to run in it.
“I would say if he got into the Grand National, he would run in it, and I feel he would take to the fences. He probably needs to win this quite handsomely to go up enough to get in the race. I think the Grand National is a massive step away at the moment, but Saturday could bring it closer,” he added.
Thursday’s Clonmel card is dependent on the track passing a noon inspection on Wednesday. Part of the track is waterlogged. Wetherby’s Wednesday programme has to pass an 8am inspection.
