Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Leopardstown Christmas Festival preview
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his runners across four days of racing at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival.
Leopardstown, Friday
We start off the Leopardstown Christmas Festival with four entries in the first two-mile maiden hurdle (12.05pm). Saveforarainyday and Sound As A Bell are two of JP McManus’ and both have entries at Limerick as well, so we’ll wait and see where they go. Le Tatoue Madrik didn’t show much on his first race for us last season, but he’s going okay at home and hopefully he can run well.
We’re hoping Grandy Lane can bounce back from a bad run the last day in the two-mile maiden hurdle here (12.35pm). We were quite disappointed with that performance after he had a lovely run in Clonmel. He seems in good shape and hopefully he can go well here.
Good Option had an okay run for us the first day but might just struggle here. We’re happy to be getting him out again here, though.
We have two in the Grade 2 juvenile hurdle over two miles (1.10pm) – the race we won with Hello Neighbour last year. In My Teens unseated at the first last time and unfortunately ended up doing two laps of the track after, which wasn’t ideal. However, she was showing good promise before that and we’re happy with her, so hopefully she can go well.
North Shore is having his first run for us here. He’s a nice horse that came over from France and he had a few good runs there. He jumps really well at home, so we’re hoping for a good show from him.
We’re hoping he could follow a similar path to Hello Neighbour and end up in the Triumph Hurdle. He’s probably a bit more of a stayer than him, but he seems to jump really well which is a great asset for juveniles.
We have a good number of entries in the 2m1f Racing Post handicap chase (2.55pm). Aadragoole looks the least exposed of our runners and I think Keith Donoghue will probably ride him. Midnight It Is will have to step up from his last start but he’s in good form at home. The King Of Prs won the Dan & Joan Moore last year and is a consistent horse, but he’s probably not too well handicapped anymore. Crescent Moon had a good run the last day, but she’ll need to take a step up to be competitive here.
The Other Mozzie needs to bounce back from his run in Kelso and may potentially skip this to go to the Dan & Joan Moore. Union Station has an entry in the three-mile handicap chase on Monday and is likelier to go there.
Outofafrika is ballot no.12 in the bumper (3.30pm) but I’d really like him to run here and there looks to be a few who could come out. He’s in good form at home and could be up to running a good race, so hopefully he’ll get in.
Leopardstown, Saturday
We’re hoping Ole Ole can go well on Saturday in the three-year-old maiden hurdle (12.05pm), having run well in defeat a few times now. This’ll be a step up in class for him, but his experience should be an advantage. He jumps well and with a good pace to aim at I can see him going well.
Only By Night is our first Grade 1 runner of the week (1.12pm). I’m really looking forward to her and it’s shaping up to be a good race with the likes of Marine Nationale and Majborough in there.
She comes into this off the back of a win and I’m hopeful she can run another big race. There’s a few Champion Chase candidates in here, but I’d say the Mares’ Chase is still the main target for her.
We have The Passing Wife entered in the Grade 1 Future Champions novice hurdle (1.47pm), but he also holds an entry in the Grade 1 Novice at Naas on January 4th. It looks like the ground is on the drier side in Leopardstown which won’t suit him as well, so we’re probably leaning towards going to Naas at the moment.
He ran really well in the Grade 2 at Fairyhouse last month and I think he can go well stepping up into Grade 1 company. I’m not sure yet that he’s up to winning at that level, but he’s a good horse and he can be progressive.
Path d’Oroux will go in the two-mile handicap hurdle (2.22pm). He ran a nice race the last day without troubling the judge and I still don’t think he’s well-handicapped over hurdles or fences. If he can take a step forward from his last run, then he could pick up some money in the places.
We’ve a good few entered in the Listed handicap chase on Saturday (3.00pm). Will The Wise had the option of Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, but I’d say he’ll most likely run here. He possibly just over-travelled in the Troytown and I couldn’t count him out here. He’ll appreciate the nice ground and could be good value at about 16/1 here.
Ballysax Hank is going into this off the back of finishing second in the American Grand National which was a really good run, so we’re hopeful he can go well again. Backtonormal hasn’t been at his best yet this season but we’re happy with him at home and he can run well here.
Leopardstown, Sunday
Both Dgalwaygallivantor and His Nibs are likely to start off our Sunday in the 2m4f handicap hurdle (12.45pm). Dgalwaygallivantor did well to win the last day in Cork after a long lay-off and hopefully he can take another step forward from that.
His Nibs was very disappointing on his first run of the season. We fancied him to run well but we came away scratching our heads. Hopefully he can bounce back from that here.
We’re all looking forward to seeing Inothewayurthinkin again in the Savills Chase (2.30pm). Fact To File going to Kempton looks the likely scenario and if that’s the case then Mark Walsh will probably be back on board for us.
He’s taken a step forward from the John Durkan and the step up in trip is going to play to his strengths. We’re in a better position than we were last year, but he’ll have to step forward an awful lot from Punchestown to win here.
Yeah Man goes back over hurdles for the first time in a long time (3.05pm), but he’s 25 pounds lower in that discipline and that’s why we’re giving it a shot. He’s been running well off his chase mark and ran a good race in the Troytown.
In my mind, he’s a better chance of winning this than one of the big Listed handicap chases, so we’re hopeful he can run a nice race.
Leopardstown, Monday
Welonlyhavedone is another who left us scratching our heads the last day after his poor run at Cheltenham, but he returns here in the 2m4f novice handicap hurdle (12.47pm). His work has been good at home and we’re hoping he can bounce back.
Sixandahalf is likely to go for the Grade 3 mares hurdle (1.22pm) here rather than the two-mile handicap on Saturday. Two-and-a-half miles is an unknown, but I think she can handle the step up. Wodhooh is the big danger here and we’d be hoping she goes elsewhere to help our chances. If she doesn’t run here, then I’d have to think we have a good chance.
I thought she underperformed in Sligo and just wasn’t the same mare as she was towards the end of last season. That said, Colonel Mustard came out and won his next race which was encouraging for us. We’re happy with her at home since, so hopefully she can run her true race.
In the three-mile handicap chase (1.57pm) we’re likely to run Union Station. He had a very good run in Fairyhouse but was back out soon after that and just didn’t handle the step up in class. He’s had time to freshen up now and we’re happy with him at home, so hopefully he can run well.
The last Grade 1 is the December Hurdle (2.32pm) where we run Hello Neighbour. He had a racecourse gallop the other day and we were happy with how that went. I’m looking forward to getting him back out in what looks a good race with the likes of Lossiemouth and potentially Wodhooh.
He’s in good nick and as a previous Grade 1 winner, hopefully he can outrun his price. It’s always hard on their first run back, and it’s just as difficult for a four-year-old in this company. If he ran well and wasn’t beaten too far, we’d be delighted with that. The rest of his season really hinges on the back of this race, but if all goes well hopefully we can take him down the Champion Hurdle route.
Things haven’t gone as well for Thecompanysergeant as we thought they might this season. He switches back to hurdles here in the 2m4f Listed race (3.05pm). We probably got his trip wrong and I think this is more suited to him. He’s working away great at home and hopefully he’ll put in a great run.
We finish off with Bud Fox in the bumper (3.40pm). He was underwhelming at Cheltenham and I think it was a combination of the ground and the fact that run came right in the depths of when our horses weren’t running well.
He’s in good shape at home and hopefully he’s a good chance in this. We still want to stay in bumpers with him, but we won’t talk him up too much for the moment for races like the Champion Bumper. We’ll wait and see how he goes here, and hopefully after that he’ll be back on track.
