Dublin Racing Festival Day One Preview

The first day of the Dublin Racing festival starts with a bang as we are straight into Grade One action with a Novice Hurdle that sees some superb youngsters head to post.

The one we fancy to get us off to a nice start is The Martin Brassil trained Longhouse Poet that holds a substantial form line but now just needs to back that up.

The six year old has not been out the top three on all three of his runs over hurdles this season but will have to reverse the form with Elixir D'Ainay having finished behind him twice.

However, now tackling this extra few furlongs it should bring even more improvement out of him and we believe that will make the difference.

One of the feature contests on Saturday is the Dublin Chase and with it being one of the most highly anticipated Grade One's of the two day meeting we have really thought about this selection.

Chacun Pour Soi for trainer Willie Mullins is our pick and this French exploit has been tipped to be one of the yards superstars this season and still could be having only ran three times for the trainer in three years with a career littered with injuries.

In his three runs the seven year old has been superb winning at Naas in March of last year in a beginners chase and then he rounded off the season by winning the Grade One Ryanair Novice Chase seeing off the Arkle and JLT winners at the Cheltenham festival.

He made his seasonal reappearance over the Christmas period at Leopardstown when looking to be dominating the race late only to run out of steam towards the line and be beaten by A Plus Tard.

The run was definitely what he needed and he can reverse the form in this contest if improving from his last run.

The seven year old Bapaume looks a great beat in the Grade One ERSG Arkle Novice Chase at Leopardstown on Saturday and in this race full of talented horses he definitely can hold his own.

Willie Mullins fields four horses in this contest and we believe that this Rich Ricci owned gelding has a huge chance.

Bapaume is very likely to end up in this contest and after being a very smart stayer over hurdles for the majority of his career his step up to the bigger obstacles this season has took the eye.

His debut over fences at Fairyhouse can be excused as it was his first run of the season and like many of Mullins' animals they always need the first run.

However, he came on for that massively when landing a 17 runner Beginners Chase at Naas that has since seen the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh that day go on to win.

Another bonus to the form line is that second behind Bapaume that day Spyglass Hill looked sure to take Carefully Selected very close to the line on Sunday before falling at the last.

The form stacks up for Bapaume on Saturday and if being able to come on again and handle the race in this tougher Grade One has to be feared.

Moving on to one of the big Handicap Chases across the two days and the two mile one furlong event sees 16 runners go to post and the horse that stands out is Quamino for trainer Paul Nolan.

This seven year old won this contest last season off a four pound lower mark which makes him a very attractive each way bet with course and distance form huge at Leopardstown.

He raced last time out in the eventful Paddy Power Chase where he did not last the trip over three miles and the drop back in distance should see him go well.

This six year old spearheads a strong team of runners for Henry De Bromhead's yard that heads to the festival with the County Waterford-based trainer set to have at least one entry in every Grade One across the festival.

Honeysuckle has a been a star for the yard over the last two years and on both her starts this season being faultless by winning twice at Fairyhouse with her latest win coming in the Grade One Hatton's Grace Hurdle.

She takes on her biggest challenge at the weekend when put on a left handed track for the first time in two years having last raced that way round in her point to point days and also dropping slightly in trip she will have to be at her best to see of the star studded field in this Irish Champion Hurdle.

Her trainer has put her into this contest to see if she has the pace to match it with some of the best around in the two mile hurdling division and it will be sure to locate what race she heads to at the Cheltenham festival and we believe her class and seven pound weight allowance will be to much for the rest of the field.

Another big runner Handicap Hurdle over two miles this time sees some bright youngsters and the one that takes the eye is the big priced Lever Du Soleil.

This five year old is relatively unexposed over hurdles and has been a successful campaigner over both the flat and the jumps in his short career.

The gelding wheres first time cheekpieces which should improve him and with Gavin Cromwell only having two runners at the Saturday meeting it makes him interesting.

The final event of the day is the Grade Two Future Stars Bumper that over the years have been won by some of the best national hunt flat horses the sport has seen.

Willie Mullins has a whole host of smart bumper horses this season and one of his best is Appreciate It who scored nicely over Christmas at the track in a tough contest.

That was over two and a half miles and on Saturday he drops back to two miles which should show off his pace with his sectional times on his last run being very impressive.