Leopardstown officials can’t rule out the prospect of having to water the steeplechase course in advance of their upcoming four-day Christmas festival.
Despite almost 1,000mms of rainfall recorded at the Foxrock track this year, the famously quick-drying chase course is again significantly quicker than the hurdles route.
A current going description of ‘yielding’ over fences, and ‘good to yielding’ in places, contrasts with ‘soft’ elsewhere.
Extensive work in aeration, seeding, and use of wetting agents has been undertaken in recent years after regular criticism that the chase surface can get too fast. Willie Mullins has been among some top trainers who have opted to sidestep some races there.
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The 2019 Irish Gold Cup was memorably reduced to just four runners with half a dozen late defections due to the going. Prior to the 2021 festival, a couple of inches of rain fell on Christmas Day yet watering still had to take place 48 hours later.
Leopardstown’s St Stephens Day feature is the Grade One Racing Post Novice Chase while the following day’s €200,000 Paddy Power Chase is the festival’s most valuable contest. The Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs is in the mix to run in Thursday week’s €175,000 Savills Chase.
On Sunday, Leopardstown’s chief executive said he will be “delighted” if yielding ground applies for steeplechase contests next week.
“The forecast looks unsettled with a little bit of rain and a little bit of brightness, perfect really. “We’ve had 220mls more rain this year than last year and we’re very pleased where we are now,” said Tim Husbands.
Asked about the potential need for watering, he added: “If we need to, we will. But we’ve had a fair degree of rain over the course of the last two to three months. We’re comfortable where it is but if we need to water, we will do so. We have that on standby.”
Ground didn’t emerge as an issue at last year’s Christmas festival which saw over 60,000 race fans attend during the four days.
It was the first festival in three years that unrestricted crowds could go to, and the return prompted a six per cent rise from 2019 to an official total of 60,478.
“I’m looking to sustain the figures we got last year. This year’s are matching almost stride for stride where we were this time last year so I’m looking to sustain that.
“If we can get a bit of growth that will be great. But the fact the race days fall on weekdays, when a lot of people will actually be working, I think that will obviously go against us a little bit. But it’s all looking good,” Husbands said.
St Stephen’s Day is the busiest date of the year in Ireland with action at Down Royal and also the start of Limerick’s own four-day action taking place.
Limerick’s Grade One feature, the €100,000 Guinness Faugheen Novice Chase, has been moved from its traditional St Stephens Day slot to Day Three of the festival to secure more prominent TV billing.
An official attendance of about 17,500 was returned for Limerick’s four days in 2022.
Willie Mullins is readying his customary powerful team for the Christmas action with Facile Vega set to start a heavy odds-on favourite for Leopardstown’s St Stephens Day highlight.
He was one of 13 winners Mullins saddled at Leopardstown during last year’s festival and it included a remarkable 102-1 six-timer on the second day. Only the Paddy Power Chase escaped the champion trainer, and that was won by Real Steel who he’d formerly trained.
Mullins’s overall Christmas haul in 2022 was 16 winners to add to 31 others over the previous two years.
Tornado Flyer gave him a second King George VI Chase in 2021 – 20 years after Florida Pearl – and Allaho looks like flying the flag for Mullins at Kempton on St Stephens Day.
“I’m very happy with his progress and I think the track could suit his style of racing,” Mullins reported on Sunday.
Last year’s King George winner Bravemansgame will lead the home defence again and his trainer Paul Nicholls has been forced into a reshuffle of his top novice talent ahead of Christmas.
A setback for Knappers Hill has put him on the sidelines and instead it will be Hermes Allen who represents Nicholls in the Grade One Kauto Star Chase at Kempton.
“I was going to run Knappers Hill in the Kauto Star, but sadly he’s had a little setback and might end up missing the rest of the season.
“It’s only minor, but I see him possibly as a horse who could run in the King George next season, so I think we need to stop and get him right,” Britain’s champion trainer reported.
“You play your cards and try and keep them all apart and then something like this happens, so Hermes will almost certainly go to Kempton on Boxing Day,” he added.
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