Ruby Walsh: My views on the big races at the Dublin Racing Festival

Fifteen races, eight Grade One contests, and a whole host of superstars in action – it’s set to be a mouthwatering two days of racing at the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend.

One man who will be on track both days is Ruby Walsh, and the leading Racing TV pundit will be joining Lydia Hislop to record a special edition of the Road To Cheltenham on Saturday evening at Leopardstown which will be shown live on Racing TV Extra, and Racing TV’s Twitter and Facebook page.

Walsh spoke to racingtv.com this week about the key contests over the two days and provided his expert views and insight on the leading contenders, including a 14-1 chance trained by Willie Mullins that he thinks is a "massive price".

Every race from the Dublin Racing Festival will be shown live on Racing TV, with Gary O'Brien, Donn McClean, Nick Luck, Fran Berry and Ruby Walsh hosting the action from Leopardstown over the weekend. Click here to join now.

Hollow Games probably sets the standard on his run at Naas behind Ginto. That looks the strongest form on offer and on that run, he probably has the holding of a couple of these.

He could get the weekend off to a flying start for Gordon Elliott.

There’s no doubting Fil Dor sets the standard here. Pied Piper, on his run at Cheltenham last weekend, would give Gordon Elliott a strong hand in the JCB Triumph Hurdle and Pied Piper beat Vauban at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve. Both looked like they would improve for their outing at Punchestown as neither of them settled particularly well. Pied Piper possibly jumped better than Vauban, and managed to beat him half a length, but it looked like Pied Piper had improved a hell of a lot when he went to Cheltenham.

We think Vauban has improved a good bit for his run, too, as has Icare Allen who beat Privilege at Leopardstown over Christmas, and Icare Allen travelled really well through that race.

The Tide Turns was a good winner at Punchestown, but he had a flat rating of 77, and you wonder if that would be good enough for this standard of race.

Ben Siegel was a 76 rated horse on the flat, so they both would probably have to improve a bit. You would have to love what Fil Dor has done on his three starts in Ireland. He beat Sea Sessions by 16 lengths at Down Royal and she’s since gone on to win at Aintree and was second at Doncaster, so his form has been solid through the season.

He’s a good jumper, a good stayer and improved again at Leopardstown. Vauban will have to have improved as much as Pied Piper did to get on terms with Fil Dor, as will Icare Allen.

Ferny Hollow not running here is a bit of a blow. Riviere D’etel doesn’t quite have the same allowance as she did at Leopardstown, so he would have to improve, but there was a lot to like about her effort behind Ferny Hollow in the Racing Post Novice Chase.

They went hammer and tongs from the word go, and she matched him, and jumped with him all the way, and only went down by a length and a half.

Blue Lord beat Lifetime Ambition at Naas after beating El Barra at Fairyhouse. He was going to be second in last year’s Supreme but fell at the last. He’s a good jumper, but I think we will learn a lot more here as to which one of these horses may be able to step into Ferny Hollow’s shoes. Willie is well represented with Saint Sam and Haut En Couleurs also in there.

Busselton probably has to improve having been beaten by Ciel De Neige, and Embittered has a good bit to find with Riviere D’etel.

The top four in the market set a decent standard, and it will be a good race. It’s not a race I will be having a bet in, though!

It's going to be interesting, isn't it? I think it's probably a race that will really suit Frodon. I was talking to Paul Nicholls and he has always thought that Frodon could be slightly better going left handed than right. He has a great record right-handed, having won at Kempton and Sandown, but left-handed at Leopardstown will suit him.

There are five fences that come up quite early in this race. They're evenly spread, but you do have to jump in a three-mile chase at Leopardstown whereas you can warm up to it in a two-mile chase - it's just the configuration of the track and where the jumps are placed. I think that suits Frodon.

Kemboy has a terrific record at the track, even though his jumping can be a little in and out.

Minella Indo is a hard horse to get a handle on. You're definitely not going to knock him, because he's a very very good horse. He had a good run in Down Royal and then pulled up in the King George. Last year he came here after winning at Navan, fell at Christmas, then came here and finished fourth.

This is definitely a recovery mission for him, but I overlooked Minella Indo after his run in this race last year and that proved to be wrong because he was brilliant in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. I think Henry de Bromhead and Barry Maloney will be looking for encouraging signs from Minella Indo here that might not necessarily mean winning. I think if he can run a decent race and run into the money, they will be fancying their chances going into Cheltenham in March whereas others here will be looking at this race as D-day.

Obviously if Asterion Forlonge could get around, it would be a start. He was running well in the King George. I thought he was beaten when he fell at the last, but he was going to be second to Tornado Flyer. I think right-handed suits him better than left.

If he runs well here, he's still in the Gold Cup picture. His record at Cheltenham isn't wonderful but he did get round last year. If you're asking me would I ride him, I definitely would. As AP always said, you're better off going out on a bad jumper with a chance than a good jumper with no chance. He will get around some day and get it all together. He has schooled again since, just to get his confidence back, but even in the King George it looked like he just overjumped whereas at Punchestown he couldn't get enough space and get high enough. I think he is a good jumper but do you want to follow him off a cliff?

I think it will be a great race to watch. Two frontrunners - Frodon vs Kemboy - and everybody will be keeping an eye on Minella Indo as to what he might do in six weeks' time.

It looks like Willie Mullins vs Peter Fahey in the bumper, if all the talk is to be believed. With this race being a Grade Two, The Big Doyen carries a double penalty and has to give weight to a couple of Willie’s who were good over Christmas.

I suppose when Willie Mullins speaks glowingly about a horse, you should listen, and he hasn’t hidden his admiration for Facile Vega. He looks as if he might even have improved since Christmas. Embassy Gardens looked a bit workmanlike last time at Leopardstown but I don't think he was helped by getting a smack on the nose in the final furlong.

Willie looks to have a good hand in the bumpers this season. Redemption Day is probably skipping this to go to Cheltenham. I'm sure Patrick (Mullins) is glad he doesn't have to choose between them here, but he might have to in six weeks time at Cheltenham.

It was Galopin Des Champs that took the eye out of my head with the way he jumped and galloped at Leopardstown over Christmas. It was a really impressive performance. He was the winner of last year’s Martin Pipe and then went back to Punchestown over three miles.

This is a much stronger contest than the beginners’ chase he won. You’ve got Capodanno, who chased home Bob Olinger last time out, Beacon Edge, who won the Drinmore, and French Dynamite, who has always promised the sun and the stars and looks like he may now deliver, in opposition. Fury Road, who was very good over three miles at Christmas with the application of cheekpieces, is also still in it, as is Jungle Boogie who was good at Fairyhouse. He’s a fragile horse but is three from three and looks like he has a massive engine.

Paddy Corkery has Master McShee who nabbed Farouk D’alene late to win the Faugheen Novice Chase, and you have Run Wild Fred who has a really high rating of 158 for a novice chaser (Denman was 161 after his win in the RSA).

This is a deep race if the majority of them stand their ground, and it will be a brilliant race. I know Galopin Des Champs is favourite for the Brown Advisory but depending on how he jumps and gallops on Sunday, I don’t think it’s beyond the wildest possibility that he could end up in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

His jumping looks to be a huge attribute and if jumping is an attribute for you, it’s the speed you jump at that makes it count. Is he guaranteed to go further? I’m sure it’s something Willie will have to consider after the weekend.

It's hard to say if it's going to be as thrilling as the Clarence House Chase was with Shishkin and Energumene, but you’re still going to have Chacun Pour Soi vs Greaneteen plus you also have Captain Guinness and Cash Back plus maybe Sky Pirate who is a pretty decent two-miler in the UK for Jonjo O’Neill.

Chacun Pour Soi has a decent enough record at Leopardstown, but there was no doubt he was disappointing in the Tingle Creek. He never showed up. He never got galloping, and he never got jumping. He has a bit to prove now. His run at Punchestown (in April) was very good where he bucked out and went and served it up to Allaho and got him out of his comfort zone to beat him five and a half lengths.

His run in last year’s Champion Chase was disappointing. I thought he got a super run off the home turn on the inside, jumped the second last really well and without too much effort, lead at the last and looked like he should have enough in the tank to get from the last fence to the winning post, but he didn’t. He faded to finish third behind Put The Kettle On and Nube Negra.

He was twice at Leopardstown last season and is on a recovery mission. He’s ten years of age, seems to be in great form, but Greaneteen was very good when he beat Hitman in the Tingle Creek. Alright, he was no match for Shishkin (at Kempton) but I don’t think there’s any shame in that, and Captain Guinness was third in the Tingle Creek.

I think Cash Back is in really good nick and is a massive price at 14-1. You’d want all eight to be declared to get an each-way market, but I just thought he could outrun his odds. He had a nice win over hurdles when he beat Classic Getaway, is going the right way and seems to be in good form.

I think Zanahiyr is improving and may well get closer to Honeysuckle in six weeks' time again, but I'd be surprised if he has improved quite enough to catch up with her yet.

But Honeysuckle just seems to be on a different graph to everything else. She is an amazing mare, unbeaten, Rachael can ride her handy, she stays well, she's a good jumper, she doesn't lack pace, if they go steady they can go forward on her and ride her prominently.

She does what really great horses do in that even when she's slightly under-par, she still manages to win. Like, she wasn't the same mare at Punchestown last year that she had been six weeks prior to that at Cheltenham but she still managed to beat Sharjah again - she beat him six and a half at Cheltenham, she beat him two and a quarter at Punchestown. You just have to admire how she is able to win whatever the circumstances and her performance here was outstanding. She is a joy to watch and I'm just glad this superstar is on this side of the Irish Sea, because that's what she is in my opinion.

You have to jump them and there's always that risk that she'll get one wrong by milimetres and there goes your unbeaten record, but she is the best two-miler in training full stop. Some people will crab the fact that she gets a 7lb mares' allowance but I think that's looking at just Honeysuckle rather than the big picture and I'd say it should be there and every now and then you'll come across an exceptional mare who doesn't need it. But she is the exception, not the norm. A brilliant mare to watch, a brilliant mare for racing and her association with Rachael is a big thing as well. As a pair, they are more than doing their bit for the popularity for the sport. How long will her unbeaten run go? I hope it stretches for a long time to tell you the truth.

It's a cracking contest. Look, Colonel Mustard chased home Jonbon at Ascot and he's 14/1. Statuaire won the Royal Bond and he's 7/1. It's a good race.

But I was lucky enough to ride Sir Gerhard in work before Christmas and I thought 'This is some taxi'. He jumped super at Christmas and I'm completely and wholeheartedly in the Sir Gerhard camp.

I do know that Davy Russell holds Three Stripe Life in very high regard and maybe he is the chosen one for Gordon Elliott in this race. He was very good at Tramore, but getting a handle on that form is very difficult.

My Mate Mozzie was possibly unlucky at Fairyhouse having won earlier in the season. I think he's a pretty good horse, myself. But I'd be with Sir Gerhard every day. Especially this Sunday.