There were no travelling fans at Cheltenham last March to see Ireland win all but five of the 28 races but there was a sense here on Sunday of the atmosphere that surely awaits next month, as a string of Ireland’s major contenders prepared for the Festival with effortless victories.
Honeysuckle, whose climb to the top of the hurdling division has largely unfolded in front of empty stands, even got a cheer as she cantered to post for the Irish Champion Hurdle and, while few in the crowd would have seen much point in backing her at 1-5, the reception for Rachael Blackmore’s mount after an easy six-and-a-half-length success was long and loud. On this form there is little chance that Honeysuckle will, in the Champion Hurdle on 15 March, surrender what is now a 14-race unbeaten record and every sign she could still be getting better.
“They were great again, the pair of them,” Henry de Bromhead, Honeysuckle’s trainer, said. “She jumped well throughout, maybe went a little bit left at one of them but winged the second-last and took off again. She’s brilliant and Rachael’s a brilliant rider and, when you put them together, they’re deadly.”
Honeysuckle is unchanged with most bookmakers at around 4-7 for the Champion Hurdle, the feature event on the opening day of the Festival, and her victory here was the third leg of a short-priced four-timer for Cheltenham contenders as Galopin Des Champs, Chacun Pour Soi and Sir Gerhard took the other three Grade One races on the card.
All three are trained by Willie Mullins and Chacun Pour Soi will join his stable companion, Energumene, in the line-up for the Queen Mother Champion Chase on 16 March, when Shishkin, who beat Energumene in a memorable duel at Ascot last month, is likely to set off as the odds-on favourite for what promises to be the race of the week.
Chacun Pour Soi was beaten at odds-on in last year’s Champion Chase, which is the only Grade One at the Festival meeting which Mullins has yet to win. He was disappointing, too, on his second start outside Ireland, in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in December, which helps to explain why he is still priced up at 6-1 to win next month even after Sundayyesterday’s decisive success.
It was intriguing, then, to hear Mullins suggest afterwards that, in his view at least, Energumene is some way behind Chacun Pour Soi in terms of their natural talent.
“I thought I had him very ready the last couple of times and he disappointed,” Mullins said. “So this week I decided I was going to get him here at 95% and I think he’s better like that.
“He doesn’t seem to bring his A game when he gets on the ferry, so maybe I’ll go undercooked next time. We always think a day on the boat is like one piece of work, so maybe we’ll do one bit less at home and let’s see.
“I would put this fellow in a different league [from Energumene] but that’s before his two disappointing runs and obviously he’s getting older. I think he’s a star and he hasn’t shown himself at his best in England yet, so we’ll try and get it right this time.”
Carlisle 12.30 Git Maker 1.00 To The Limit 1.35 Space Safari 2.10 Zabeel Champion 2.45 Lady Tremaine 3.20 Mackenberg
3.55 Maid O’Malley 4.25 Paddock Cottage
Fontwell Park 12.45 Serious Charges 1.15 Kotmask 1.50 Cilaos Glace 2.25 Gamaret 3.00 Global Wonder 3.35 C'Est Quelqu'Un 4.10 Lilith 4.40 Bolsover Bill
Wolverhampton 4.55 Dark Design 5.30 Lincoln Dream 6.00 Adaay In Asia 6.30 Northern 7.00 Hafeet Alain 7.30 Seven Pockets 8.00 Inexplicable (nap) 8.30 International Law (nb)
In all, Mullins saddled six Grade One winners over the weekend but, when asked for a banker bet from his Festival team, he opted without hesitation for Facile Vega, the winner of a Grade Two bumper here on Saturday evening. He beat a field full of previous winners by a dozen lengths and is now just 11-10 for the Champion Bumper. It is all starting to sound, and feel, a little ominous for the home team.
