It's the first day of the Dublin Racing Festival on Saturday and one of the significant runners is Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle. The Arkle Novice Chase will be informative in the context of the Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Chacun Pour Soi is the favourite for the Dublin Chase, while the opening novice hurdle looks difficult to call with seven horses priced from +350 to +800 at the head of the betting market.
The two-day meeting at Leopardstown first took place in 2018 and has quickly become established as a dress rehearsal for some of the Grade 1 races at Cheltenham in March. Eight winners went on to score at the Gloucestershire carnival in 2018 and two horses completed the double last season. The timing is perfect for Cheltenham prep-races because there is just over six weeks between the two festivals.
Connections have not confirmed Honeysuckle's target. The horse is a mare, which means she gets a seven-pound allowance in the Champion Hurdle. Initially, the owner was happy to win any race at the Cheltenham Festival and the mares' hurdle seemed the obvious choice. However, Honeysuckle would be a dangerous opponent carrying seven pounds less than the male horses. A convincing win in Ireland on Saturday at +137.5 with Bovada would bring the Champion Hurdle into the equation.
Notebook and Fakir D'oudairies are the two market leaders for the both the Arkle Novice Chase in Dublin and the equivalent race at Cheltenham. Notebook will probably take his chance at Leopardstown, but Fakir D'oudairies is entered in the Scilly Isles Novices' Chase at Sandown. Min is an interesting runner in Ireland and if the second favourite is absent, you would virtually have an each-way bet to nothing at +800. The winner of the race could become the favourite for the Cheltenham Arkle.
Willie Mullins has never won the Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but his Chacun Pour Soi is a leading contender this year. At the time of writing, the horse is the +110 favourite to win the Dublin Chase over two miles and one furlong. Only eight horses have been declared and Min is likely to contest the novice chase instead, in which case there will only be two payout places.
At the current odds, any bet on Chacun Pour Soi should be win only and the horse is a worthy favourite. He beat Defi Du Seuil by four and a half lengths off level weights at Punchestown in May. That is outstanding form because Defi Du Seuil is the favourite for the Champion Chase. However, Chacun Pour Soi is expected to produce something special in Ireland and we could have a new favourite for the Champion Chase on Saturday.
The Grade 1 novice hurdle over two miles and six furlong at 12.50pm is a trial for the two longer novice hurdle races at the Cheltenham Festival. The race features inexperienced horses and a superstar could emerge. Envoi Allen's target at Cheltenham could be one of the novice races or the Champion Hurdle. He is scheduled to run in the novice event on Saturday.
The winner of this novice hurdle in Ireland would get in the mix for the Ballymore or Albert Bartlett races and Easywork could be that horse if Envoi Allen is absent. Past history suggests at least one winner at Leopardstown on Saturday will win a race at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival. The trick is identifying the race and horse.