Facile Vega will attempt to return to winning ways in the Champion Novice Hurdle (G1) at 4:15pm after defeats at the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham Festival. He bumped into an impressive winner (Marine Nationale) in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle (G1) at Cheltenham but has 3lb to spare on official ratings and the return to this course and distance (1-1) is expected to suit.
Diverge is expected to offer the main opposition, having finished two and three-quarter lengths behind Facile Vega in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle. He is entitled to find some improvement on his fourth hurdling start, having joined Willie Mullins in December 2022 after a successful French Flat campaign with former trainer Freddie Head.
Il Etait Temps is better than his poor jumping performance in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle (G1) would indicate and boasts a good record (1-1) on the going (yielding to soft).
In the Champion Chase (G1) at 5:25pm, Energumene is a short-priced favourite to complete the Cheltenham Festival/Punchestown Festival double and follow up his success in this race last year. A two-time course and distance winner (2-2), it is difficult to see how rivals could beat the Willie Mullins-trained chaser, who will face no significant opposition.
His main competitor will be stablemate Gentleman De Mee who relishes good ground and impressed with a seven-length success in the Dublin Chase (G1) at Leopardstown in February. It was the first eye-catching performance since his win in the Maghull Novices' Chase (G1) at Aintree in April 2022, having been well-beaten in three starts in-between. It's worth noting the Closutton-based yard has won this race for the last four seasons.
The Champion Novice Chase (G1) at 6:35pm is expected to be the most competitive on the card, with the majority of the six runners having a chance. The Henry de Bromhead-trained Journey With Me heads the current betting as a last-start winner of the Directors Plate Novice Chase (G3) at Naas. Although he boasts a good record on the ground (2-2), Journey With Me's stamina over the distance would be a concern, having finished down the field when last attempting 3m (Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in April 2022).
Classic Getaway hasn't been seen on the track since a win at Gowran Park in November in a beginners' chase, where testing conditions have meant none of the first three home (all trained by Willie Mullins) have raced since. He may prefer deeper ground than he will encounter today.
Appreciate It looks capable of securing his first top-level victory over fences after a mixed season. The Willie-Mullins-trained runner had a year off the track after winning the Supreme Novices' Hurdle (G1) at Cheltenham in 2021 and made a strong start to his chasing career with wins at Naas and Punchestown. He ran well to finish third in the Gold Cup Chase (G1) at Fairyhouse after being hampered and jumping left throughout and the step up to 3m could spark improvement. His only previous attempt at 3m was a winning performance in an Irish point-to-point.
