It's over three months since Leopardstown hosted a Champion Stakes that could legitimately claim to be the international flat race of the season: tomorrow the jumpers get their turn.
Instead of the flamboyant talents of High Chaparral, Falbrav, et al, we get the more resolute, hardy and local virtues of steeplechasing but the clash of Best Mate and Beef Or Salmon in the Ericsson Chase is as good as this tough game gets.
A total of seven others line up for the 150,000 Ericsson Chase including a double former winner in Rince Ri (1999-2000), a French Gold Cup runner-up and four other proven Grade One winners.
But ever since Henrietta Knight committed Best Mate to a first trip to Ireland since his point-to-point days, racing's entire Christmas focus has been on tomorrow's highlight.
The selling points are numerous. An outstanding double Gold Cup winner versus a convincing young pretender: the best in Britain against the best in Ireland, but this time on local rain-sodden turf rather than around the likes of Cheltenham or Liverpool.
Quite how much rain will eventually fall on Leopardstown over the weekend will be of supreme interest to the Best Mate camp. The dramatic late switch from Kempton's King George was because of a desire to avoid quick ground.
The going at the Dublin venue will be many things but certainly not quick.
"It's taking getting, definitely testing," reported a mud-splattered Conor O'Dwyer after riding in the festival's opening two races.
Yesterday it was officially "soft" with the track's racing manager, Tom Burke, predicting everything from "frost to wintry showers to dry weather" between now and the 2.40 off time.
The sight yesterday of good horses finishing strung out will be of concern to Knight but Michael Hourigan, who trains Ireland's top stayer, was impressively unconcerned.
"Everything is fine with my horse. The ground will be OK for him, and my only worry now is that everything stays fine for him," he said.
As well as the going there is also a rare sense of vulnerability about Best Mate that will encourage home supporters.
An emphatic defeat by Jair Du Cochet on his sole start of the season at Huntingdon was blamed on tacky going. But there was a lack of fluency in the eight-year-old's jumping that will have made some of those who leaped to make some Arkle comparisons last March blush slightly.
Those who still believe Best Mate will become the first since Arkle to complete a hat-trick of Gold Cups will need a victory tomorrow to sustain their faith. But the bookies don't believe it will be that easy.
Best Mate is an 11 to 10 favourite with Paddy Power while Beef Or Salmon is just 13 to 8 to come out on top. It is 10 to 1 the rest, which just about sums up what the thousands expected to cram into Leopardstown will want, an eyeball-to-eyeball duel between two outstanding horses.
After Edredon Bleu's spectacular King George success yesterday, Knight and jockey Jim Culloty will lack nothing in confidence. But on his home turf, Beef Or Salmon could just end up copper-fastening his own Gold Cup credentials.
