Dublin Racing Festival showed staying novice hurdlers might not be great bunch

With each passing day it looks more and more like the British are once again going to be put in their place at the Cheltenham Festival, with last weekend's Dublin Racing Festival playing host to a galaxy of Irish stars.

The meeting will doubtless provide it's fair share of festival winners, with winners Honeysuckle, Galopin Des Champs and Facile Vega first to come to mind.

However, if there is something we learnt this weekend it could be that staying novice hurdlers aren't an exceptional bunch either side of the Irish sea.

With ante-post favourite Blazing Khal ruled out, the Albert Bartlett has been blown wide open and I didn't make much of Minella Cocooner's win in the 2m6f Grade 1 on Saturday.

Racing Post Ratings handed him a mark of 144, which doesn't compare favourably with the last two winners Latest Exhibition and Gaillard Du Mesnil, who themselves weren't good enough in either the Albert Bartlett or Ballymore.

It appears Willie Mullins is leaning towards the latter for Minella Cocooner, with the second-placed Minella Crooner seemingly more likely for the Albert Bartlett. Neither would interest me for the festival at their current prices.

Ginto can be backed at 6-1 for the Albert Bartlett and 8-1 for the Ballymore, but his form was hardly boosted on Saturday when both Hollow Games and Grand Jury disappointed.

Journey With Me: bypassed the Dublin Racing FestivalCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Taking this into account, I'm surprised you can still get 5-1 about Journey With Me for the race over the intermediate distance as his form looks very strong. Both the aforementioned Minella Crooner and Kilcruit have both won impressively since finishing behind him at Christmas.

It has been well documented Henry de Bromhead's horses haven't been running well and it could be a blessing in disguise Journey With Me didn't run on Saturday as he'd have been at risk from having an unnecessarily hard race.

He's incredibly lightly raced having had just two starts under rules, and I suspect he's even better than he's been able to show so far.

Of his market rivals, Dysart Dynamo has looked more of a Supreme type so far while that horse's stablemate Sir Gerhard, who won over two miles on Sunday, would surely need to jump much better to be in with a winning chance in either race.

There's still plenty of time for both Journey With Me to have an easy preparation run somewhere and for De Bromhead's form to turn around, and I think it could be worth keeping the faith in him to deliver in an uninspiring division.

Vassy a novice hurdler to watch

If I could only keep one horse in my tracker at the moment then I'd make a strong case for Moriko De Vassy.

The five-year-old is from a smart family and is probably unlucky to have been beaten in four runs under rules.

He downed two useful horses in Datsalrightgino and Party Business in a bumper last March before winning by 30 lengths on hurdling debut at Hereford in November.

Moriko De Vassy: youngster of considerable talentCredit: Pool

He was putting it up to the highly regarded Balco Coastal when falling two out at Huntingdon on his penultimate start and made amends in extraordinary style at Doncaster last month, travelling strongly and overcoming a shocking blunder at the last to beat Great Heart'Jac, who he gave 10lb.

I was disappointed when he wasn't qualified and entered for the Betfair Hurdle as although his hurdling technique left a lot to be desired, a mark of 126 shouldn't represent anything like the ceiling of his ability and a strongly run two miles looks to be right up his street.

The fact Tom Symonds has entered him in the Listed 2m½f novice hurdle at Exeter (3.00) on Sunday indicates just how highly he thinks of him.

If he runs there he could come up against Peking Rose (rated 135), Lossiemouth (141) and Stage Star (143), so I'm hoping connections don't end up sacrificing what looks a tasty handicap mark.

It could also be worth keeping an eye on Everglow if he is declared for the 3m4f Grand National Trial (4.10) at Fairyhouse on the same day.

Everglow: has potential over fencesCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Ninth in the Pertemps as a novice when trained by Philip Hobbs last year, he has embarked on a chasing campaign since moving to Noel Meade's yard.

He was only six and a half lengths behind Blue Lord over two miles at Fairyhouse in December and has put in several other commendable performances behind classy novice chasers.

He continues to shape like extreme distances will suit and is therefore worth watching on in his first start in handicap company now dramatically up in trip.

Back could be best of British bumper hopes

It's almost impossible to imagine the Champion Bumper winner isn't either Facile Vega or American Mike and I have to confess I wasn't even familiar with the first British-based horse in the market when I looked on Monday.

The Jonjo O'Neill-trained Springwell Bay is 20-1 but he could be usurped this weekend as several smart types do battle in the Listed bumper (4.45) at Newbury on Saturday.

Authorised Speed received a mention in this column prior to winning at the course on his most recent start but if you follow me on social media you'll know I'm a huge fan of Hullnback.

Fergal O'Brien: trains HullnbackCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The five-year-old made a big impression when coming from last to first at Chepstow in November and has been aimed at this race since.

The son of Schiaparelli has a stout pedigree but is in one of the best yards in the country for producing bumper performers.

Fergal O'Brien has enjoyed success at the same level over the same code already this season with fillies Poetic Music and Bonttay so it speaks volumes this horse is his only entry here.

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