DRF Review 2025 - Thrills, Spills and Galopin the Great

As is the norm with this meeting, plenty of questions were answered by the usual suspects. There were several of visually impressive performances, as well as some head-scratchers. I'll attempt to analyse all the action, by using direct time comparisons for each of the race winners. The charts you'll see below are adjusted for weight carried and extra distance run to allow for direct comparison.

Day 1 - Hurdles

Final Demand kicked off proceedings with the strongest performance of the day, and by a fair distance. It was a very strongly run race, particularly on the second circuit, and the pace of his rivals collapsed in the closing stages. He showed plenty of stamina to maintain the strong pace, and run out a decisive winner. Despite this, I can understand the reasoning behind keeping his future hurdle targets at 2 and a half miles. Comparisons with 137 rated handicap winner Perceval Legallois can be fairly easily made. The handicap was much more steadily run up to 3 out, but the closing efforts of both horses fairly similar. As such, we can assume Final Demand has run to around 20 lengths superior. I wouldn't be too optimistic about the bumper form and the form of the juvenile hurdle looks fair but nothing special.

Day 2 Hurdles

Before we get into the review of Day 2, it is worth noting that rain fell during the afternoon, which would have softened the ground slightly, however to an unknown extent. The most remarkable finding when reviewing the times is just how quickly Lossiemouth and State Man were going, before the former's unfortunate departure. She was a whopping 30 lengths clear of Kopek Des Bordes when falling, and that novice race was also strongly run. There is no way the pace could have been sustainable, despite her abilities, and it would have been fascinating to see who would have had the stamina to prevail. The runner-up, Daddy Long Legs, who was ridden at a much more even pace, was able to close significantly, as State Man appeared to tire, understandably, in the closing stages. Whilst it was undoubtedly a very impressive performance from Kopek Des Bordes, the form of those behind him probably doesn't account for much, with only the runner-up, Karniquet, bettering the performance of handicap hurdle winners McLaurey and Vischio. Kopek Des Bordes looks rock solid however, and will surely go off odds-on for the Supreme at Cheltenham. It was a performance that can easily be rated over 20 lengths better than the 119 and 120 rated handicap winners, who in reality are 130+ horses.

Day 1 - Chases

The chases on Day 1 began with a taking performance from Majborough, who overcame jumping errors to record a strong time performance. It was run at a decent pace throughout, and he was able to quicken well between 2 out and the last. I'd argue that his market rivals should have been much closer to him throughout. A finishing speed of 103.8% for Firefox suggests he still had plenty left at the end of the race and although the result wouldn't have been any different, the winner was shown too much respect.

Speaking of showing too much respect, Galopin Des Champs was able to lead the field of the Irish Gold Cup round in almost a canter, which would have suited him perfectly. As he has shown time and again, he has a devastating finish kick for a staying chaser. Although it didn't look like his most impressive performance visually, much of the field were flattered by their proximity at the finish, due to the steady pace.

Day 2 - Chases

The chases on Day 2 were argubably most interesting from a time comparison point of view. I have included the run of Dublin chase runner-up Marine Nationale for extra context. A lot has been made of this particular race, and whether Solness was gifted an easy lead. The times show that Solness and Danny Mullins, as he had done on Lossiemouth, went off like a scalded cat. Whether the other horses were unable to match him, or whether the jockeys (correctly) decided not to follow is something we can't be sure of. What we do know is that Solness went unsustainably quickly, and he showed a huge about of ability to be able to cling on to victory. Given a (marginally) more patient ride, he will be some threat in the Champion Chase. Finishing speeds of 95% for Solness and 98% for Marine Nationale help to confirm this, as well as the comparisons in the graph above. Marine Nationale used up his finishing effort on the run to the last, and both he and Solness completed the run from the last to the line a huge 15 lengths slower on the second circuit that the first. It was a nice run from Ballyburn, although not hugely quicker than the handicap. It was a big step forward from Kempton and he will likely be even better suited to further.