Serious test for Djakadam in John Durkan Memorial Chase

Djakadam will be the latest of Willie Mullins's prospective Cheltenham Gold Cup team to reappear when last season's 'blue-riband' runner-up attempts to break his Grade One duck in tomorrow's John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown.

With so much anticipation of a potentially vintage Gold Cup in 2016, and the way both of Mullins's novice stars, Don Poli, and in particular, Vautour, have captured the public imagination, Djakadam continues to fly relatively under the radar.

Certainly compared to Vautour and Don Poli, 6-1 and 8-1 respectively in Gold Cup ante-post lists, Djakadam is relatively overlooked at 14-1, almost a Paul Scholes-type profile presence amongst the high-flying Mullins team alongside some more ‘Beckhamesque’ stable companions.

But just like his Closutton companions, Djakadam is still only a six-year-old and arguably has achieved more in firm form terms given his gallant second to Coneygree in last season’s Gold Cup.

That represented a substantial step up from a previous Thyestes victory under a big weight and the way he rallied from such a gruelling effort to then chase home Don Cossack at the Punchestown festival suggests he is a true Grade One performer.

Best chance

A Durkan victory would put a seal on that suggestion and indicate Djakadam might yet represent Mullins’s best chance this season of finally securing that elusive Gold Cup success. Even if he doesn’t win this weekend, though, it would be dangerous to write off his long-term Cheltenham claims.

Vautour’s own Ascot reappearance didn’t impress everyone but, with everything geared to the Spring festivals, Mullins is famously adept at adopting the long view.

So it’s hardly unreasonable not to expect Djakadam to be fully primed for his first start of the campaign, on heavy ground, over a two-and-a-half-mile trip short of his best, and against some high quality opposition.

Another Mullins hope Valseur Lido is Bryan Cooper’s pick over Clarcam while Gilgamboa, 50-1 himself for the Gold Cup but hugely effective on very testing conditions, is another proven top-flight winner. Foxrock can boast the second-best rating in the race.

It looks ultra-competitive but in the immediate circumstances, Gigginstown’s second-string Clarcam could represent a touch of betting value.

He never looked a winner last time but Ptit Zig has hardly hurt the form since and Clarcam has ‘previous’ when it comes to needing a couple of runs to come to his best. He’s had those now and boasts top form on a very soft surface. Two and a half miles also looks his optimum trip and he sports first-time cheek-pieces.

Gigginstown have their own team of Gold Cup hopefuls headed by Don Cossack and Road To Riches. Valseur Lido could emerge as another in time.

But Clarcam, described by Gordon Elliott this week as prone to a shocker sometimes, has an identical official rating and race fitness on his side so this could be his time to hit rather than miss.

Seven months

Djakadam is coming back from over seven months off but another Rich Ricci-owned star, Pont Alexandre, is set for a first start in 33 months by lining up in the Beginners Chase.

Even amidst the depth of talent at Closutton over the last decade, the French recruit looked to hold a rather special place in Mullins’s affections during a novice hurdle campaign that wound up with a surprise Neptune defeat at Cheltenham in 2013.

That a horse could finish third to a talent like The New One and leave a sense of deflation indicates the regard Pont Alexandre was held in then so there will be huge interest in his reappearance.

Yorkhill bring his own substantial reputation to flights in the two and a half mile maiden hurdle while the Mullins bumper hope, Blow By Blow, faces a potentially stiff task against Jezki's half brother, Jett.

Empire Of Dirt was still travelling pretty well in Navan's Troytown when exiting at the third last. He may be worth another try in the handicap chase.