Ross Millar's Punchestown tips: "That strongly suggests he's better than this mark"

Was a gutsy winner of this last season for Joseph O'Brien when proving his stamina for this trip. Soft ground was against him when beaten here in November over 3m5f, but there's no getting away from the fact that he was disappointing when beaten at Cheltenham in December, when conditions would have suited. 

He's since switched to Cross Country specialist Enda Bolger, and a prep run over hurdles at Cork this month was satisfactory. I think he will bounce back here, as all his best form has come in late Spring and Summer.

Didn't enjoy a great passage through in the Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival when he was forced wide on the home bend before seemingly failing to stay. He now drops back in trip with a tongue tie applied, and both of those are positives. 

His third at Fairyhouse in December over this trip, when beaten seven lengths by the now 150-rated Jacob's Ladder, strongly suggests he's better than this mark, and he represents the shrewdest of connections.

He's won this race for the past two years, and has arguably shown his best form at this track.

He was a disappointing sixth in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham when producing an uncharacteristically weak finishing effort, but that was in keeping with the general trend of runners from his yard that week, and I'm inclined to disregard it.

The fitting of first-time blinkers is a positive, and he can land this race for the third time.