How To Bet €20 at Leopardstown on Monday

If ever a race deserved an extra 48 hours of anticipation, then it has to be the 2026 edition of the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup. A star-studded cast have plundered 31 Grade One races between them and all bar two of the 13 declared have won at the highest level.

We've got steeplechasing royalty crossing swords with the king of them all, Galopin Des Champs, seeking to make history.

No horse has ever won four successive editions of the Irish Gold Cup but the  black beautyis going to have to pull out something special if he’s to rewrite the record books.

Willie Mullins, his trainer, is certainly not going to make life easy for him as he’s unleashing seven other runners, including three more A-Listers in Gaelic Warrior, Fact To File and I Am Maximus, plus a mare, Spindleberry, yet to be beaten over fences. All his team are in different ownership, so don't ask him for a selfie just before the off.

And then there’s old adversaries such as Affordale Fury and Inothewayurthinkin to overcome. That pair already boast notable verdicts over the champ.

There is a strong school of thought that Galopin Des Champs will improve plenty for his comeback run in the Savills Chase last month, but Paul Townend did not ride him as if fitness was much of a concern, using his Pro Cush five times after the final fence. 

He’s a horse who routinely needs no encouragement to run quicker and has barely had a tap throughout his career. 

The ride has lingered in my mind. It was certainly a contrast to previous comeback outings, admittedly over shorter, when Townend adopted a more sympathetic hands-and-heels approach as if conscious he was short of his peak. Maybe adrenaline took over last time, maybe it didn't.

But it was a tough comeback run; the kind some horses regress rather than progress from. Of course, Galopin Des Champs does not usually fit into the "some horses" category.

I’m as big a fan of Galopin Des Champs as anyone else and will raise a glass to him (and commentator Jerry Hannon, who is likely to come close to injuring himself) if he does chalk up his 13th Grade One triumph.

But at the age of 10, in such a deep field after so many big-race assignments, a best price of 15-8 is hardly enticing. 

The door may be open for a surprise if you also take the view that Gaelic Warrior is not at his best at Leopardstown; that Fact To File still has a stamina question to answer; that Affordale Fury cannot jump like he did last time and win again; that I Am Maximus could have one of his "no thank you" days; and that  Inothewayurthinkin may have left part of himself (his spirit?) on the Cheltenham hill last spring. 

The one I keep coming back to is Grangeclare West, not least because he is chalked up at 22-1. 

This lightly raced ten-year-old (only 14 runs over hurdles/fences) was a brilliant Grade One winner over 3m at Leopardstown as a novice chaser and chased home Galopin Des Champs in last year’s Irish Gold Cup and was again not far behind him when a staying-on fourth in the Savills.

In between, he was an excellent third in a top-class Grand National, when he might have won at Aintree but for an untimely error at the final fence. 

He began this season with a dull run in the John Durkan, like 12 months earlier, but was back on his A Game  in the Savills last time when beaten an aggregate of six lengths. 

Keep in mind that Grangeclare West took a big step forward from the Savills to the Irish Gold Cup last year. Monday's reconfigured track and deeper ground will bring his rich reserves of stamina more into the equation, especially with so many of the field usually ridden forward. 

His regular rider, Brian Hayes, will almost certainly adopt a patient approach and I’d imagine the pre-race ploy will be to “pick up some pieces” with one eye also on Aintree.

But he's a class act in his own right and it could just be that he finds the race falling into his lap. Most bookmakers are offering extra places and I'll be playing each-way. 

The Race And Stay At Leopardstown Handicap Hurdle (2.25) features five runners who will be wearing some form of first-time headgear but it is one having that aid taken off, Daily Present, who intrigues me most at a whopping 50-1. 

Removing headgear can be as galvanising as putting it on in the first place and the nine-year-old will be minus the blinkers he has worn for his past four starts, including when winning the Kim Muir Fulke Walwyn Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. 

That race is likely to be again at the top of his agenda but this a valuable prize in its own right and whatever he does will not affect his rating over fences. 

His hurdle mark is 5lb lower than over fences, and I’m not sure we’ve got enough evidence to suggest Paul Nolan’s rugged stayer is better in one sphere than the other. 

He’s won two of his five races over the smaller obstacles and ran well for a long way at Leopardstown over Christmas before his 251-day absence apparently took its toll. Having still been in the thick of the action two out, he dropped away. 

Daily Present should be sharper this time, copes with heavy ground and has a new jockey in 5lb claimer Eoin Staples, who will still be on a high after riding the winner of the  Thyestes Chase last month. Three of the past six winners of this race have been ridden by conditionals. 

Nolan clearly has his horses flying, too, with his past two runners landing Graded contests.

I can only assume the bookmakers reckon this is merely a race designed to keep him ticking over before he reverts to chasing. That may well be the case, of course, but at 66-1 we don't have to risk much to find out.

It could be another day to savour for Staples because he also partners Addragoole in the The Barberstown Castle Handicap Chase (4.05).

This Gavin Cromwell-trained novice made an instant impact when switched to handicap ranks last time, landing a 20-runner affair at Leopardstown over Christmas.

He sauntered to the front that day and, despite hanging a bit to his left and idling, seemed to win with plenty to spare.

The handicapper has pushed him up 10lb but that is partly offset by Staples' claim.

I'm going to split my stakes in the race and also support Battle Of Ridgeway, who barely came off the bridle when winning on bad ground at Navan last time.

The form looks solid, too, as the runner-up, trained by Willie Mullins, was going for a hat-trick of wins and the third home has since won twice.

Battle Of Ridgeway missed an intended run at Naas early last month because of coughing - the horse who finished third to him at Navan took the spoils - but at least he has avoided going up further up the weights and he will have had more time to refresh his batteries.

Liam McKenna keeps the ride, so Battle Of Ridgeway has only 10st 1lb to shoulder, albeit he is in better company. 

The Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase (2.55) features only three runners and looks a match between Romeo Coolio and Kargese. The latter looks to have more gears, jumped superbly when winning over course and distance last month and can make the most of the 7lb sex allowance she receives.

2.25: Daily Present £1 win and £2 each-way at a general 50-1 (bet365, Boylesports, Sky Bet and Paddy Power all offer six places)

2.55 Kargese £3 win at a general 7-4

3.30 Grangeclare West £1 win and £2.50 each-way at 22-1 with bet365 (four places)

4.05 Addragoole £1.50 each-way at a general 8-1 (four places)

4.05 Battle Of Ridgeway £1.50 each-way at 10-1 with bet365 (four places)