Road To Cheltenham: will Kopek Des Bordes have to do a Well Chief?

What if . . . Kopek Des Bordes isn’t yet fit enough following minor leg surgery to make next month’s Irish Arkle?

When owner Charlie McCarthy announced last month that last year’s Supreme winner would miss his Christmas engagement, he suggested we might even see the horse before the Dublin Racing Festival. Plainly, that notion is not now in the offing – if, indeed, it was ever likely.

Kopek Des Bordes is back in training but may well need to be Grade One-ready for his trainer Willie Mullins to catapult him straight into a clash – on just his second start over fences, when the ultimate target is in March – with the likes of Romeo Coolio and Irish Panther, who fought out a compelling Racing Post Novice Chase on St Stephen’s Day.

However, the flipside to that coin would be this exciting nascent chaser – a headstrong winner on debut over fences at Navan the previous month – heading to Cheltenham with just one prior chase start. Well Chief was brilliant enough to navigate such a path to Arkle success as was, more improbably, the enigma that was Western Warhorse. It isn’t the preferred method.

It’s worth discussing because the presence of Kopek Des Bordes at Leopardstown next month is an assumption on which many related contingencies are founded. Indeed, we briefly touched upon the various scenarios in this week’s Road To Cheltenham show, which you can watch below.

Such a twist of fate would surely change how Gordon Elliott looks on the Irish Arkle – and therefore that would surely have an impact on what happens next. Romeo Coolio is currently entered in that 2m1f event and its Ladbrokes-sponsored sister over half a mile further. If he hasn’t moved up to an intermediate trip prior to the Festival, making the stretch to three miles is a much greater pragmatic barrier.

“We’d probably learn a lot, if he did go for the 2m5f race, about what to go for,” Elliott told Nick Luck in the 7 January edition of his podcast when discussing Romeo Coolio’s recent Ryanair Chase entry. The trainer believes its intermediate distance is ideal for now and yet is not inclined to run his star novice against established chasers.

Asked whether he’d consider stepping Romeo Coolio up to three miles for the Brown Advisory, Elliott answered: “I wouldn’t rule it out, now.” Speaking personally, I’d rather the Cullentra team ducked Cheltenham entirely than stretch out to three miles this season.

That’s not because I believe the Brown Advisory is some sort of career-curtailing assignment – that’s nonsense, in my opinion. Take the daftly small sample size of any single race, especially a Grade One novice of any sort, and map how its constituent parts "go on" afterwards. I’d wager even the 2000 Guineas tends to host more handicappers than stakes horses over time.

No, I’d rather Romeo Coolio – whose battling qualities in quelling a not-stopping rival illustrated a new string to his bow – skipped Cheltenham and opted for Fairyhouse or Aintree. If Elliott is still in with a realistic shout of the Irish trainers’ championship on the far side of the DRF, perhaps his owners could be persuaded?

Clearly, a re-match with Irish Panther is to be taken seriously even if Kopek Des Bordes doesn’t make it to this church on time. Kieren Buckley took maximum advantage of his mount winging the second last at Christmas, catching Romeo Coolio on the back foot.

The runner-up even landed with momentum despite slightly pitching on landing at the last and continued to pull away from third-placed July Flower – who’d established a credible standard of form herself – even though he was worn down for victory.

It’s understandable training partnership Eddie and Patrick Harty have given themselves the option of the Champion Chase for Irish Panther. Having been slow to fulfil his potential, he’s come of age over fences this season but is already nine years of age, so the clock is ticking Coneygree-style. His performance at Christmas was no fluke.

Leopardstown’s chase course will be broadly similar next month – unlike comparing the layout for the December with that of the Irish Champion Hurdle – but Irish Panther will relish the relative speed test of Cheltenham’s Old Course. He’s slicker and quicker than Romeo Coolio over a fence over two miles on good ground, but he was still run down. Furthermore, Kennedy will be more alive to the potency of his threat for Take Two.

Romeo Coolio’s remaining obstacles if directed towards the Irish Arkle are both mares – stablemate Kala Conti, who’s taken well to fences but always shaped like a stayer, and Christmas beginners’ chase winner Kargese, whose victory at Leopardstown was made more hollow from a substance perspective by the sad demise of James’s Gate.

An impetuous mare, unlike Kala Conti, Kargese is yet to upgrade her form over fences and is not certain to be effective at a track/trip combination that presents as a relative test of stamina. I can’t have her as Irish Arkle second favourite, set to inherit the mantle if her stablemate is a no-show.

Interestingly, Koktail Divin hasn’t merited a DRF entry in any form from trainer Henry de Bromhead. He bossed an ultimately one-sided 2m5f beginners’ chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, with Kiss Will not jumping well enough to be effective and Shuffle The Deck again shaping as though an increase in trip and decrease in grade would do the business.

The winner had appeared not to stay three miles when faltering in the Grade Two Florida Pearl Novice Chase behind determined character Oscars Brother at Punchestown in November. Yet Darragh O’Keeffe, watch above, was not inclined to rule out his effectiveness for that trip on a sounder surface when questioned post-race by Gary O’Brien over Christmas.

We’ll know more about connections’ thinking when the Festival’s novice entries are published next Tuesday – and also from next week’s Road To Cheltenham special guest…

Josh Stacey went rogue on the Road To Cheltenham Christmas Review by speaking of a juvenile before the new year. Under the cover of bigging up Maestro Conti’s Kempton debut for the Skeltons as his novice-hurdling performance of choice over the festive period, he even smuggled in mentions of six more.

Bless him, Father, for he hath sinned. That’s seven Hail Marys. By contrast, I have been solemnly guided by the Catechism of Ruby Walsh:

▪       “And why shalt thou not uttereth the name of a juvenile until the new year?”

Congregation, answer:

▪       “For lo! Even then shalt stewarding fail and forsake thee on the road to the Fred Winter.”

Of course, if previous seasons are anything to go by, there will be a great deal of loitering, flapping and shuffling to weigh up over the next six weeks when it comes to weighing up Fred Winter options, but Winston Junior caught the eye in no uncertain terms when finishing second behind the more professional Minella Studylast month at Cheltenham.

Yes, I know the runner-up pulled like stink and was briefly short of room against the stands’ rail in the straight. Did he obtain the best possible placing? Probably. Could he have finished a hell of a lot closer had his own sense of urgency been more broadly felt? Too right. He runs at Ascot (12.25) on Saturday.

As things stand, at the canopy of this division is the Willie Mullins-trained Narciso Has, who trounced what seemed like a less stacked field than has often been the case in the recent past for Leopardstown’s Christmas Grade Two Changing Times Brewery Juvenile Hurdle.

Under Danny Mullins, bar for a mildly airy leap at the first where he stumbled slightly and nodded on landing, he jumped fluently and was always in pole position despite Kasper Hauser imagining he was Frankel as the field passed the stands for the first time.

There was another moment – when he took a false step on the bend after the third and Mullins had to double-check all was well – but otherwise this was a straightforward 11-length success.

Narciso Has skipped a length and a half further clear of runner-up Adrienne than when that pair had chased home Mange Tout at Fairyhouse the previous month, but that’s probably more than accounted for by the fact Ted Walsh’s mare was held up too far back meaningfully to respond to the winner’s decisive kick two out.

Despite being 0 for 13 on the Flat, Adrienne clearly has talent for this sphere. She’d won when well backed at Fairyhouse on her second start, prior to encountering this superior pair, and will have experience to burn for the Fred Winter. Or the Hallgarten And Novum Wines Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, to use its full title.

North Shore, narrowly nutted by that mare for second at Leopardstown, was making his hurdling debut after steadily improving from run to run in four Flat starts in France for his previous trainer Ludovic Gadbin. Now with Gavin Cromwell, he will surely build on this effort in which he rallied likeably after getting outpaced from two out.

Mange Tout – a half-sister to five-time Grade One winner Impaire Et Passe – is unbeaten in three starts and is set to re-oppose an improved Narciso Has in the Grade One Gannon’s City Recovery & Recycling Service Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the DRF next month.

(Sponsors! These races are only staged over two miles! They’ll have jumped the first hurdle before Richard Hoiles or Jerry Hannon has had chance to mention a horse.)

Mange Tout’s marked progress since her Down Royal debut can surely be ascribed to Gordon Elliott reapplying the hood she’d worn when winning at Compeigne for previous trainer Elisabeth Allaire in May. A tongue-tie was not reintroduced, however.

Nonetheless, she settled better than when in the north and overcame a couple of errors – three out the most significant – to pull clear in the straight with Narciso Has and nail victory with a superior leap at the last.

Also on St Stephen’s Day but at Limerick, Mullins produced another potential contender in this division in the shape of Bertetua, who belied some market unease to beat Crooked Path by nine lengths.

Usefully, the latter brought recent Cheltenham form to the table – having finished 20 lengths behind Minella Study in fifth less than a fortnight earlier in the race referenced above but probably running slightly better here.

Jumping – albeit adjusting slightly right – is an asset for Bertutea, who interestingly was twice placed at Auteuil when ridden by Bryony Frost. She maintains professional links with Mullins since relocating to France, having hopped over to Doncaster to ride Fun Fun Fun for the yard just after Christmas.

Two Closutton inmates, both one-raced Auteuil winners for their previous trainers and each making their debut for the brethren, fought out Wednesday’s opening juvenile contest at Fairyhouse but in the opposite order to market expectations. 15/8 second favourite Proactif essentially outpaced 13/8 favourite Macho Man, who was unable to mount a challenge of any sort of potency.

The winner warmed to his jumping task. Having been careful at the first two obstacles prior to establishing a long lead on the extended gallop between the fourth and fifth, he proved reliable under pressure. He needed to be – pressed for the lead three out and bumped at the next. Having then drawn clear of Macho Man, he merely needed reminding to concentrate at the last.

Macho Man shaped like more of a stayer but also revealed a relatively marked tendency - bearing in mind Fairyhouse is right-handed – to adjust right at his flights. Overall, his jumping also lacked the fluency of the winner, albeit that horse was largely able to set his own pace.

There are some common factors across this form. Consistent Quinta Do Lago became outpaced two out behind Narciso Has at Leopardstown and was never able to get back into the race on good ground. On soft ground behind Proactif, however, after suffering a similar fate approaching the penultimate flight, he was able to demonstrate stamina by rallying strongly for third.

Despite the reintroduction of the hood he wore on the Flat for Roger Varian, Munsif failed to build on his promising debut third – when doing too much too soon behind Hardy Lad on the final day of Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting – with his jumping letting him down late in fifth.

In My Teens, whose default position is dropped out from flag-fall, was duly never involved behind Narciso Has but showed a flicker of something when staying on from rear behind Proactif.

In a year when the Supreme appears relatively open, perhaps owner JP McManus will consider splitting his leading juvenile pair – Narciso Has and Proactif – at Cheltenham, with one perhaps taking on his elders?

He has form - Binocular was second to fellow green-and-gold-hooped soldier Captain Cee Bee in 2008 and Fakir D’Oudairies fourth to Klassical Dream in 2019 – but Mullins hasn’t. As Ruby Walsh highlighted in this week’s show, the Closutton Order will note that neither McManus juvenile won. My co-presenter was also relatively unimpressed with the value of the Fairyhouse form.

Five-year-old Mighty Park’s processional victory at Fairyhouse on Thursday – gifted a long lead at flag-fall and winning unchallenged, key members of the unit marching behind him in single file to the sound of distant trumpets – also might since have provided McManus with a player in the Festival’s opening contest.

Minella Yoga has made a successful transition from Ireland to Britain, having won an Academy Hurdle for John Nallen - the same source as for Minella Study - and now a Newbury novice for Paul Nicholls.

In the process, he lowered the colours of Act Of Innocence, two years his senior and one of the key horses removed by Gordon and Su Hall from Ditcheat to Nicky Henderson’s yard over the summer. Afterwards, it would have taken a performance of Oscar-like proportions for Nicholls to disguise his satisfaction. He might get a Raspberries nomination, though.

The winner is a good jumper, if a right-adjustor, and only needed minimal encouragement to assert, the main two pulling 12 lengths clear of the third.

Defeat caused Seven Barrows to flip their thinking regarding the Halls’ novices, too, now considering Old Park Star – running in the Rossington Main on Saturday – their Supreme horse and Act Of Innocence their Turners representative, via Huntingdon’s Listed Sidney Banks Novices’ Hurdle next month.

Returning to where we started this section, Maestro Conti impressed at Kempton despite being keen in the early stages. Afterwards, Harry Skelton said he struggled to pull him up and suggested he was a strong stayer. He and brother Dan also have fellow Kempton winner Precious Man in their squad. 

Having undergone surgery to correct his breathing since chucking away hopes of challenging One Horse Town at Cheltenham in November, losing his back legs in error at the final flight, Precious Man won readily in a race made far easier by the sad loss of Wertpol.

As previously discussed, One Horse Town went on to be readily dispatched by almost ten lengths, switched to the New Course, by the Adam Nicol-trained Minella Study – who’d previously accounted for Ammes at Wetherby. In fourth at Cheltenham, Wolf Rayet showed distinct promise for Sam Drinkwater despite twice getting involved in argy-bargy between two out and the last.

The Jane Williams-trained Matiwo, who pulled himself to the front by the second before falling three flights later, has since gone in at Newbury, his courage for standing off unaffected.

Meanwhile Jane’s son Chester, who’s made a bright start to his training career, saddled progressive filly Tenter Le Tout win the Grade Two Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow – a race that is not the contest it once was.

Advised 28/11/25: William Munny at 12/1 for the Unibet Champion Hurdle [Non-runner]

Advised 21/12/25: Majborough at 6/1 for the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase

Advised 08/01/26: I Am Maximus each-way at 33/1 for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup