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Europe Sizing up Cheltenham defence

For the second Sunday in succession, it would seem that events in Ireland ticked another box in the "Cheltenham bankers" column. Seven days after Hurricane Fly showed that his grip on his two-mile hurdles crown is not for prising, Sizing Europe presented his own persuasive case ahead of the defence of his two-mile chasing title.

Gamilati hot – before a tot of Whisky?

Originally devised to keep the racing and betting industries on the move during exactly this kind of freeze, the all-weather has since evolved into a surface for all seasons. Many trainers nowadays like to start off well-bred young horses on the polytrack rather than on firm, heavy or unevenly watered turf.

Europe now long overdue recognition for size of his achievements

Much the best race of the weekend is scheduled at Punchestown tomorrow, when Sizing Europe and Big Zeb extend a rivalry that continues to set standards for the emerging steeplechasers over two miles. Moreover, the course management seems optimistic that the card – also featuring a valuable novice hurdle, in which Simenon tries to follow up a 23-length success at Cork for Willie Mullins – will beat the weather.

O'Dwyer fans can now give Folsom praise

In his riding days, Conor O'Dwyer had as safe a pair of hands as any jockey round Cheltenham. Many who cherish the memory of Hardy Eustace in the Champion Hurdle, or War Of Attrition in the Gold Cup, will be gratified to see his horsemanship telling in a new career. Certainly, Folsom Blue looks his best chance yet of training a Festival winner, having handled a step up in class in style at Clonmel yesterday.

National a big target for red-hot Mullins

The trainer whose domination of Irish jump racing is surely exceeding all precedent – at least in matching quantity with quality – yesterday laid down two fresh markers to measure the restless limits of his dominion. Willie Mullins not only set a new record for the fastest 100 in an Irish season, but also accounted for no fewer than a dozen of the 82 entries published for the John Smith's Grand National.

Nicholls takes Triumph aim with Dildar

It had seemed remarkable enough that two of the first five in the JCB Triumph Hurdle market – Minsk and Dildar – were yet to leave the ground in public. Still less accountably, however, Dildar was actually eased in the betting after duly making a winning start to his hurdling career at Taunton yesterday.

Hurricane team still flying after victory

The morning after is often the worst time for a trainer, particularly one of a horse with physical vicissitudes. So Willie Mullins was particularly pleased to report his champion two-mile hurdler Hurricane Fly none the worse overnight for his faultless seasonal comeback at Leopardstown, bright-eyed and cool-legged after his first race for nearly eight months on Sunday.

Hurricane blows his rivals away

It will seem far-fetched, after Big Buck's fortified his claims to greatness with a 15th consecutive success at Cheltenham on Saturday, but he might not even be the best hurdler ridden by his jockey over a period of 24 hours. For while Hurricane Fly had repeatedly caused his trainer to postpone his comeback, before finally resurfacing at Leopardstown yesterday, it certainly proved worth the wait. In fact, it is tempting to conclude that Hurricane Fly's chance of retaining his crown at Cheltenham in March must be broadly the same as that of Big Buck's doing likewise.

Midnight beats the living daylights out of his rivals

The Argento Chase here yesterday had something of the feel of a cup semi-final between, say, Derby County and Brighton. It might have been a good rollicking spectacle, but come the big day, the second-tier underdogs will surely be put in their proper place. But just don't express such views too strongly in front of Neil Mulholland, the trainerof Midnight Chase, who blew some fellow Gold Cup contenders apart in the three-and-a-quarter-miler over the Gold Cup course.

Midnight to make bold appearance

Just as the man without a tie should not be automatically disparaged as a cad – a truth that continues to elude certain racecourses in the 21st century, notably Ascot last weekend – so the jockey who "slides tamely" from his mount must not be treated as a crook.

Fly tops classy card at Leopardstown

Hurricane Fly finally resurfaces at Leopardstown tomorrow, albeit in something of a no-win situation.

Zaidpour could go the distance with Big Buck's

While one rising star hesitated before his own career crossroads, another yesterday struck out with rather more conviction than most appeared to perceive. Grands Crus, it turns out, will not test the water for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Festival trials meeting tomorrow; but the rehearsal on the same card of Big Buck's has surely obtained fresh interest after Zaidpour's emergence as a plausible new force in a division, staying hurdlers, the champion has so dominated over the past three years.

Mullins puts Zaidpour in Festival experiment

Having won seven of the 14 races staged in Ireland over the weekend, Willie Mullins gave his rivals some respite at Limerick yesterday. The champion trainer scratched one of only two declared runners, leaving the rest a clear run at six other prizes. Needless to say, Mullins duly won with the one that did line up, and he certainly looks as though he means business on a valuable card at Gowran Park today.

Henderson ready to scotch Champion route for Whisky

Dawn yesterday brought such a deluge in Lambourn that Nicky Henderson was tempted not to work his horses; later on, moreover, he would have an especially distressing funeral to attend. He should be commended for his forbearance, then, in embracing his obligations as host of a media open morning to promote the race closest to the heart of Dai Walters.

Grands Crus to test Gold Cup terrain on Festival trials day

On the day when British horseracing measured its resilience against recession, publishing record attendances in 2011, racegoers were given every incentive to get the turnstiles clicking again at Cheltenham on Saturday. Entries made yesterday for the Festival trials card appear to guarantee at least one new favourite for the real thing, in March, with the three horses sharing the top of the JCB Triumph Hurdle market all lined up for a dress rehearsal. Even so, no race will be more instructive than the Argento Chase, perhaps the last opportunity to prevent the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup becoming another straight duel between Kauto Star and Long Run.

Mullins toasts a familiar fever in Champagne

If there is one race at the Cheltenham Festival that brings a particular smile to Irish eyes, it's the Champion Bumper, taken only five times by the home side since its introduction 20 years ago. And chief among the successful raiders has been Ireland's serial champion trainer Willie Mullins, with six victories.

Ascot dress code turns into a debacle

In a world where flamboyant headpieces and carefully-cut waistcoats are as ubiquitous as the high-society chatter that fills the air, attending races at Ascot is, in the words of one curt official, a formal occasion and "not one where you might dress as you would a nightclub".

Somersby brings a ray of sunshine

For the majority here yesterday, the feel good factor stood in the winners' circle after the Victor Chandler Chase, in the form of the dark, handsome gelding Somersby. His victory in the Grade 1 contest was a return to the big-time for his trainer Henrietta Knight, so long on the sidelines since the heady days of Best Mate, and a particularly welcome boost after the health problems experienced by her personal and professional partner Terry Biddlecombe.

Forpady one to stick with each-way

When Saturday comes is when it always used to matter for such as Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson, until the demands and rewards of television scheduling came along. Those two football men must, this week, wait until tomorrow for the next instalment in their season. Their racing equivalents, though, know that with the exception of one occasion a year, today is the day.

Cristal’s talent at last becomes clear

Whether or not it was the change of training ground that did it, Cristal Bonus finally justified his fancy transfer fee at Chepstow yesterday. The six-year-old showed such promise as a youngster in France that his then owners would not let him go for a bid of nearly £300,000 when they sent him to auction.

Novice Ranjaan shows Festival class

When a boy beats men, notice is entitled to be taken. Yesterday at Taunton the four-year-old hurdler Ranjaan, having just his fourth outing over obstacles, outclassed a field of seasoned handicappers, older and much more streetwise rivals. He thus cemented his claims for the Cheltenham Festival, where he will be taking on his contemporaries in the Triumph Hurdle.

Grumeti's stock on rise after fall

The old theatrical adage about a bad dress rehearsal clearly holds good on muddier stages, too. The Triumph Hurdle contender Grumeti may have slipped and slithered to the ground at Newbury yesterday but bookmakers clearly believe it will be all right on the night as, collectively, they shortened his price for the Cheltenham four-year-old feature. Among the first half-dozen in the market after an impressive debut over obstacles last month, the gelding is now clear or joint-favourite in nearly every list.

McCain raises National defence

It rather comes under the heading "well, he would say that, wouldn't he?" But Donald McCain, the trainer of last year's Grand National winner Ballabriggs, is nonetheless robust and convincing in his defence of the Aintree marathon. And, like Mandy Rice-Davies, he most certainly speaks from experience.

Spirit willing for Henderson's Champion tilt

When the man who has won two of the last three Champion Hurdles speaks, it perhaps pays to attend. And, as Nicky Henderson runs the rule over his three contenders for the Cheltenham showpiece eight weeks today, the only trick may be to listen between the lines.

Racehorses face butcher's axe as recession forces courses to close

It is not a good time to be a racehorse in Italy. Many Italians already had a taste for cavallo, but with the economy dipping and people staying away from the races, horse steaks, stews and cutlets are a set feature on many more menus.