Ahead of the Dublin Festival, we take a look at Henry De Bromhead's six best chances at Cheltenham glory.
Henry De Bromhead has a seriously talented array of horses at his disposal, ready to cross the Irish Sea and take Prestbury Park by storm in March.
However, he has the small matter of the Dublin Festival to attend to first, and should some of his stars bolt up over the weekend, he will have some very strong favourites for some big races at Cheltenham.
Punters seemed to have caught on to his chances too, he has been the most backed trainer to win the top trainer title at Cheltenham and as a result has been slashed by bookies into 8/1, from 14/1 earlier in the month.
We have taken a look at six of his leading chances for the Cheltenham Festival, with four of them lining up at Leopardstown this weekend.
A victory at the Dublin Festival usually bodes well for Cheltenham too. Indeed, out of the 32 Irish-trained winners at Cheltenham in the last two years, 10 had won at the Dublin Festival prior to winning at Cheltenham.
Firstly, star mare Honeysuckle is going for the Irish Champion Hurdle on Saturday, and is the 6/4 favourite for the race. She has blown away all her opposition this season, and boasts the perfect record from her six career starts.
She steps back down in trip here, which might be a slight concern, but if she takes it in her stride, then surely a tilt at the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham beckons. The owners are known to go down the mares route, but it looks a rather weak renewal of the Champion Hurdle this year and should she win this weekend, she will be extremely likely to be installed the new favourite for the race.
A best price of 6/1 for the event, firms offering NRNB are taking no risks, making her as short as 3/1. You would be lucky to get that should she bolt up on Saturday.
Notebook confirmed his ability over fences when defeating the highly thought of Fakir D’oudairies at Leopardstown last month. The two re-oppose in the ERSG Novice Arkle Chase on Saturday and the result will make the Arkle at Cheltenham picture far clearer.
Notebook was giving 7lb to his rival at the Christmas meeting and if he gets the better of him again here, he will shorten even further for Cheltenham. He is currently the 7/2 favourite for the race, but that could look more like 6/4 come Saturday evening.
He also has the Triumph Hurdle favourite in the form of Aspire Tower. His two efforts so far for Henry De Bromhead have resulted in two victories by the combined margin of 31 lengths. The four-year-old looks like yet another monster for De Bromhead and is heavily fancied to make it three from three on Sunday in Dublin.
He is odds-on in the Juvenile Hurdle, and should he oblige, he will look very strong at the top of the Triumph market. Currently a best price of 4/1, it could be worth taking that now before Sunday.
His fourth star to run at Leopardstown is A Plus Tard. Last year’s Close Brothers Handicap winner has reached new heights this season. Now a Grade 1 winner, he is looking to defeat Chacun Pour Soi once more and faces some serious opposition in the form of Min and Cilaos Emery.
It is surprising to see A Plus Tard available at 3/1, and Chacun Pour Soi as short as 6/4. He will no doubt improve for the run over Christmas, but his conqueror seems to only be on the rise.
The Dublin Chase is set to be the race of the weekend, and will give punters plenty of clues in regards to the Champion Chase and the Ryanair Chase. Henry De Bromhead has said A Plus Tard is more likely to go for the Ryanair, currently finding himself tussling for favouritism with Min, the six-year-old is a best price of 6/1.
Although, should plans change and they decide to have a crack at the Champion Chase, he can still be found at a best price of 9/1.
His two other stars who are bypassing the Dublin Festival and look set to go straight to Cheltenham are Minella Melody and Minella Indo.
The former shot herself to the forefront of the Mares Novice Hurdle market when beating some smart Mullins mares at Fairyhouse last week. Any double figure prices quickly vanished, and she is now the second favourite behind Maries Rock at 11/2.
The later justified his 2/5 price tag at Navan this month with a brilliant round of jumping and now finds himself a 6/1 shot for the RSA Chase. The Albert Bartlett shock winner was always a born chaser and with bags of stamina, he looks set to give Champ a run for his money in March.
He looks a very tough and determined horse, the exact attributes needed for the RSA and he should have a great chance at more Cheltenham glory, although it wouldn’t be even close to the surprise he sprung at last year’s festival.
Henry's yard is going from strength to strength. It is amazing some of the horses he has at his disposal and it looks like punters really do believe he has a decent chance at being the top trainer at Cheltenham.
He may just have an even better chance by the end of this weekend. He could have four short priced favourites for Grade 1 races at Cheltenham, that in itself in some feat. Hopefully everything goes to plan for De Bromhead’s team and we see his star horses cover themselves in glory in the next few months.
