PUNCHESTOWN PREVIEWA LOT WILL be decided during the first ever five-day festival at Punchestown but a decision that should be pretty straightforward for day-one punters to make is if Twist Magic will be different class to his opposition in the €220,000 Kerrygold Champion Chase.
Certainly compared to the end-of-season struggle between Willie Mullins and Noel Meade for the champion trainer title, or the jump jockey's duel between Ruby Walsh and Davy Russell, that Twist Magic question appears one to take a strong position on.
Those with a broader long-term economic view will no doubt also be examining the next five days as a financial barometer for the future in terms of spending and attendances. But for those of us with a more narrow focus 11 Grade One races and a prize-money fund of over €3 million is short-term prospect to savour.
Ruby Walsh will be anticipating the week more than most. Currently five clear of Russell in the jockeys' title race, he can call on the might of both the Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls yards before the season ends on Saturday and the British champion provides him with Twist Magic at just the right time.
Nicholls also has Natal in the Champion Chase and the cross-channel raiders have Fair Along on their side too. Strictly on Queen Mother form at Cheltenham, Fair Along emerges as best of these but that race turned into a Master Minded exhibition with the Hobbs runner battling his way past exhausted stragglers.
Twist Magic was only sixth but Cheltenham on soft ground was never going to play to his strengths. A more accurate reflection of his ability is a pre-Christmas win in the Tingle Creek at Sandown. None of today's opposition, including the past winners Mansony or Newmill, look up to that level of performance now.
Schindlers Hunt comes here in winning form but may prefer ground softer than he will encounter whereas the surface, the track and the two-mile trip look ideal for Twist Magic.
Willie Mullins is going all out to wrestle the trainers' title from Noel Meade and can extend his current lead of just over €50,000 in prize-money with Pomme Tiepy in the Grade One Ellier Developments Champion Novice Chase.
The ex-French-trained mare was a revelation through the winter on soft ground but then hit the dirt in the SunAlliance at Cheltenham. A problem on the eve of the Irish Grand National prevented Pomme Tiepy taking advantage of an advantageous looking handicap mark but Mullins reports her in good shape now.
This doesn't look the strongest Grade One ever run with one cross-channel runner in Air Force One, a double Grade One winner in Sky's The Limit who appears to have lost his form and a Cheltenham winner in Finger Onthe Pulse whose festival success came in a handicap.
Opponents of Pomme Tiepy will point to her liking for softer ground than the official "good to yielding" which is forecast for today. However, it is worth noting she won on good ground at Nancy last June before Irish racegoers got to know her.
Today's third Grade One prize, the VC Bet Champion Novice Hurdle, sees another Walsh-Mullins hope with an even bigger profile as the Ballymore winner Fiveforthree bids to add this to his narrow Cheltenham success last month.
The big task for the gutsy grey this afternoon will be coping with a drop in distance of almost three quarters of a mile although Fiveforthree did win at the minimum trip on his first start over flights.
This will be a different proposition though and the Meade-trained Jered is one opponent who will be fancied to do the favourite for toe. Another could be Cork All Star whose overall jumping career has been disappointing for a Cheltenham bumper winner but who might be worth another chance on this decent going.
Bahrain Storm hasn't run since Christmas but at his best, Pat Flynn's versatile sort looks to have a decent shout at a decent price in the handicap hurdle. The Goffs Land Rover Bumper is always competitive but Fort Severn is an interesting runner from the Newmarket yard of Lucy Wadham who knows what it takes to win at the festival.
