Ross Millar: Ryanair Chase ante-post bet plus Monday tips

The brilliant Jump racing action over the Festive period continued on Sunday as we witnessed yet another brilliant performance from Brighterdaysahead who dismantled the field in the Grade One Neville Hotels Hurdle by 30 lengths. 

The Gordon Elliott-trained, and Gigginstown House Stud-owned, mare was given an aggressive ride in behind her pacemaker, King Of Kingsfield, with the pair quickly opening up a sizeable advantage over odds-on favourite State Man. Such was the gap, it was feasible that the talented, and young, pair of riders - Sam Ewing and Danny Gilligan - had got there fractions wrong. 

However, as they exited the back straight, it quickly became apparent that it was Paul Townend, not them, who had misjudged things. State Man made a brief effort to close, but found very little when asked, while up ahead, Brighterdaysahead was able to maintain her strong gallop and eventually ran out a 30-length winner from Winter Fog, who plugged on to head a weary State Man.

It has become clear that while they are not completely out of form, the Willie Mullins yard have certainly had a fair share of horses fail to meet expectations this week, and I’m certain that Brighterdaysahead has not beaten the best version of State Man, although this should not detract from a wonderful performance.

Brighterdaysahead provdied Elliott with his 100th Grade One winner, and the winning trainer was insistent that come March, the Cheltenham Festival target would still be the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle. This is the time of the year when we’re encouraged to suspend our imagination, but surely she’ll now head to the Unibet Champion Hurdle, and I say that as a holder of a rather nice ante-post slip about her for the Mares! 

Her presence in the line-up would undoubtedly add another layer of intrigue to a race that, in my opinon, has lacked a bit of depth for a number of years.

On Saturday, Galopin Des Champs versus Fact To File part two certainly delivered. Back at Leopardstown and back to his optimal trip, the dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner was quite simply flawless as he made all, and jumped with zest and consistency. 

As a fully signed-up member of the fan club, I was confident throughout, and I’m sure those in the opposing camp were, too. Fact To File travelled with his customary exuberance and while his jumping lacks the fluid grace of his main rival, I thought he actually jumped better here than he had in the early stages of the John Durkan. Turning for home, he had every chance, but inside the final two furlongs when the required attribute switched from speed to stamina, it quickly became apparent that, like many before him, Fact To File was going to be unable to match the depth of reserves that Galopin Des Champs has, and the winner lengthened away to win and retained his unbeaten record over fences at this track. 

In his interview on Racing TV afterwards, Paul Townend said this track brings out the “je ne sais quoi” in Galopin Des Champs. He’s certainly brilliant at this track, but he’s been near on brilliant since he jumped his first fence in public at this track three years ago. I’ve suspected it for a while, but now I’m convinced he is the greatest staying chaser I’ve seen in my lifetime. My efforts to be the perfect husband and Dad – codename operation ‘Cheltenham Brownie Points’ - will be doubled in the coming weeks as I desperately want to be there on that Friday in March where I fully expect to see him land his third Boodle Cheltenham Gold Cup…or should I play the waiting game for 2026 where he might just land a fourth?

With regards to Fact To File, I now see him as an outstanding ante-post bet for the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. It’s inconceivable to me that he can find the required stamina reserves to reverse this form over an extended trip, and while I understand the sentiment that there’s only one Cheltenham Gold Cup, surely JP McManus would rather have a real chance of landing a Grade One? He’s also not short of options in the Gold Cup with Spillane’s Tower, Inothewayurthinkin and Corbetts Cross all potential runners. 

I usually like to have a degree of certainty with regards to a race being the intended target, and I’m aware that doesn’t apply here, but a best-priced 7-1 is simply too good to ignore.

On Monday, the Racing TV cameras are at Taunton and Haydock, and I have three selections at the latter fixture. Best of luck.

Schalke was off the bridle a long way from home at Bangor on his latest start, but finished exceptionally well to end up a never-nearer second. That followed on from his promising stable debut for the Greenall and Guerriero yard, with both runs suggesting that a change of scenery has benefitted him after he lost form throughout 2023, and early 2024.

He was raised 2lb for his most recent effort, but is still comfortably below his last winning mark. Crucially, he faces heavy ground again here, and perhaps more pertinent is the fact that Ben Smith, who has ridden him on each of his starts for this yard, retains the ride. The jockey is also able to claim a handy 8lb against fellow conditional riders here.

The yard are without a winner in the past sixteen days, but they’ve had plenty of runners hitting the frame, so it’s not a statistic that unduly worries me.

This Olly Murphy-trained son of Blue Bresil won very easily on his seasonal return at Leicester, coping with testing ground with aplomb despite an absence of nearly 400 days, and testing ground might well be a prerequisite for him as he did disappoint at Ayr on his only start on a good to soft.

He missed an intended engagement on Boxing Day with a vet’s certificate but, given he’s turned out quickly here, it can only have been a minor setback.

Glynn Brae looked impressive at Stratford on his hurdling debut on heavy ground, but the form is yet to work out, and he was well beaten under a penalty at Aintree on his latest start. He will provide stiffer opposition than Indeevar Blue faced at Leicester, but I expect the selection to comfortably land this before contesting deeper races in the New Year.

Gaboriot was well backed ahead of his latest start at Doncaster, but produced a disappointing effort. However, I do believe a few valid excuses can be put forward in his defence.

The good to soft ground and strong early pace possibly just took him out of his comfort zone, and this might then have contributed to a few notable jumping errors, most notably just as he was trying to make ground. This resulted in him being positioned too far back in a race that was dominated by those racing prominently.

He still strikes me as a chaser that remains on a workable mark. While he’s yet to win on heavy ground, his best form has been on soft surfaces, so there’s every chance he’ll cope with conditions here. His stamina is proven with a win in a four-mile Cheltenham Hunter Chase already on his CV, and the 7lb claim of Ben Smith means he carries 11st 7lb.

The relatively quick turnaround of just 14 days is a minor concern, but I’m prepared to believe that the way the race at Doncaster developed meant he wouldn’t have had an overly hard race, so I'm expecting him to bounce back here.