Racing braced for impact of Storm Ciaran ahead of Grade One action at Down Royal on Saturday

Grade One jumps action is due to return at Down Royal this weekend although plans for the leading Gold Cup contender Gerri Colombe to line up could be affected by how Storm Ciaran unfolds.

Racing officials plan to monitor the week’s weather outlook on a “day to day basis” ahead of Saturday’s €150,000 Ladbrokes Champion Chase, the first top-flight contest of the National Hunt campaign.

The going at Down Royal is currently soft but there’s a possibility of up to 50mm of rainfall before a two-day programme at the track starts on Friday.

Gerri Colombe is already a hot 11-10 favourite for the big race ahead of Tuesday’s latest acceptance stage as he takes a first step towards a potential Cheltenham Gold Cup attempt in March. Gordon Elliott’s star is a general 7-1 second favourite to dethrone Galopin Des Champs at Cheltenham.

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However, whether or not ‘Ciaran’ disrupts plans for Gerri Colombe and the broader racing programme remains to be seen.

“Storm Ciaran is due to arrive later this week and it’s going to take a bit of monitoring. Thurles on Thursday could get up to 30mm. Down Royal is forecast to get up to 50mm prior to the start of its two-day meeting on Friday,” Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board spokesman Niall Cronin said on Monday.

“It’s all a bit unclear, at the moment. It could be slightly wetter in the south of the country so we will have to monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis.”

An immediate focus is on Tuesday’s Curragh flat card which will have to pass a 7.0am inspection. A drier day than anticipated on Monday has increased hopes HQ can get a green light.

However, the outlook for the 2023 flat season’s finale at the Curragh this Sunday is unclear.

“At this point in time, the Curragh could get anything from 40-50mm before Sunday’s racing with the latest rainfall due to start late tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed, it is a favourable forecast for tomorrow. But the Curragh will be back on alert for the weekend if that overall forecast is correct,” Cronin added.

A proven Group One performer lines up in Tuesday’s ‘Derby’. The 2021 Tatts Gold Cup hero Helvic Dream teams up with record-breaking rider Patrick Mullins in the Tote Amateur Derby and will relish the ground conditions.

One niggle, though, could be that this will be just Helvic Dream’s second career start at 1½ miles. He finished third in the 2020 Lenebane Stakes at Roscommon but his best form is at 10 furlongs.

The Gordon Elliott team traditionally use Down Royal’s Festival of Racing to get some of their top stars back into action.

Friday’s Grade Three Bottlegreen Hurdle has been won three times in the last four years by Elliott and he has the Aintree Grade One-winning novice Irish Point among 11 entries left in at Monday’s acceptance stage.

The other Grade Three on Friday is the Feathard Lady Mares’ Novice Hurdle where the unbeaten Brighterdaysahead could represent the Co Meath trainer.