5 Cheltenham Takeaways From The Dublin Racing Festival

21 December 2024; Trainer Willie Mullins at Thurles Racecourse in Tipperary. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Andrew Halligan
By Andrew Halligan Updated
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Now that the curtain has been brought down on the 2025 Dublin Racing Festival, all eyes move towards the Cheltenham Festival in March.

With so many stand-out performances to note from last weekend's, Dublin Racing Festival, who are the ones that have enhanced the Cheltenham Festival credentials, and whose Cheltenham Festival dreams have been dashed?

Gallopin to glory

The star attraction of the DRF did not leave his droves of fans down as he galloped his way to victory, joining Beef Or Salmon and Jodami as a three-time Irish Gold Cup winner, leaving him just one off Florida Pearl on four, who was also trained by the master for Closutton.

When asked about Galopin Des Champs's performance, jockey Paul Townend said, "Something that never before happened to me, when we were jumping the last ditch, I could feel and hear the roar from the stands,"

Having been greeted back into the winner's enclosure by a rendition of "Ole, Ole, ole, Ole" Mullins said: "He jumped and galloped for three miles, and it didn't look like he was stopping coming up to the winning post. He's just a real champion.

He added, "He's the best chaser I've trained, and Hurricane Fly, the best hurdler."

Galopin Des Champs' four-length victory saw him shorten into as short as 8/15 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

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If he were to claim his third Gold Cup, Galopin Des Champs could cement himself in the history books as one of, if not the best, three-mile chase we have ever seen.

Big Maj puts in a big performance

Majborough, last season's Triumph Hurdle winner laid down a serious marker of intent when bossing his rivals in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase.

When asked about Majborough's performance, Mullins said, "That was Plan B. Plan A was to settle in behind one or two, but Mark said when the flag went down, he just saw the first fence and took off, and he didn't want to interfere with him."

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Despite not being foot-perfect throughout, this imposing five-year-old chaser had his opposition toling from a long way out. But, if he is to make it back-to-back wins at the Cheltenham Festival, he will need to brush up on his jumping to get the better of Sir Gino in the Arkle Novices' Chase.

State Man makes the most of Lossiemouths fall

As the flag was dropped for the start of the Irish Champion Hurdle, the runners were met with a roar from the packed stands. But just as the race was heating up, the unthinkable happened.

Lossiemouth and State Man eyed up the third last, but to the shock of the Leopardstown faithful, Lossiemouth took a heavy, nearly taking down State Man in the process.

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Thankfully, she and jockey Danny Mullins escaped any serious injury and will live to fight another day.

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The fall of Lossiemouth left State Man with a huge lead, and he was left to come home on his own time as fellow stablemate Daddy Long Legs ran on to grab the runner-up spot.

State Man has been trimmed into 7/1 for the Champion Hurdle in March, whereas Lossiemouth has been pushed out to 4/1.

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But the question on everyone's lips is, which race will Lossiemouth run in on day one of the Cheltenham Festival?

Mullins puts the UK novice hurdlers on notice

It has been months of not knowing who the best novice hurdlers from Closutton were, but after last weekend, it is safe to say that we have seen two special novice hurdlers.

Final Demand, the 12-length winner of the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle, has sent shockwaves across the Irish Sea after his runaway win.

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On the back of that win, Final Demand is fighting for favouritism in the Grade 1 Turners Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival with the Dan Skelton trained, The New Lion.

It looks like this clash will likely happen, and after what was witnessed on Saturday, it will take a massive performance to stop Final Demand from winning at Cheltenham.

Just as we thought we had seen the stand-out Irish novice hurdler in Final Demand, up stepped his stable stablemate Kopek Des Bordes on Sunday.

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This was the wow performance of the weekend as the son of No Risk At All strolled to a breathtaking 13-length victory.

That performance has shot Kopek Des Bordes to the top of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, and on the back of that performance, you will find it hard to argue the Willie Mullins will not be taking the opener on day one of the Cheltenham Festival.

Other notable performances

Ballyburn was back to his brilliant best on Sunday when seeing off the tenacious Croke Park in a thriller in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase.

That win leaves last season's Gallagher Novices' Hurdle winner now eyeing up a tilt at the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase in March, where he has been installed at the 2/1 favourite just ahead of his stablemate Dancing City.

In the Irish Arkle Solness showed that his win over Gaelic Warrior and Marine Nationale at Christmas was no fluke.

The Joseph O'Brien-trained chaser built up yet another unassailable lead coming into the home straight, eventually finding enough to hold off Marine Nationale to claim back-to-back Grade 1 wins and earn his spot in the Champion Chase, where he is best priced 12/1 to claim his third Grade 1 success.

How many Cheltenham Festival winners have we seen at the 2025 Dublin Racing Festival?

All will be revealed in just over five weeks.

READ ALSO: State Man Runs Away With Irish Champion Hurdle As Lossiemouth Suffers Nasty Fall

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