JP McManus has started doing things differently - and it could be one hell of a season for him

According to Racing Post Ratings, the best chaser JP McManus has owned over the last five years is Easysland. Remember him? He was the French horse who tamed Tiger Roll in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival and got an RPR of 171 for it. He's rated 127 now. Next is Gentleman De Mee, who received an RPR of 170 for beating Blue Lord at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. 

Sire Du Berlais has been McManus's best hurdler in that time, a legend who has spent the last few years punching above his weight having spent the previous few in a division he was too heavy for. Darasso, would you believe, is next on that list. The versatile ten-year-old, who has run 42 times in his career, got an RPR of 162 the day he won a Grade 2 at last year's Irish Grand National meeting at Fairyhouse. 

Why on earth am I talking about Easysland, Darasso and Gentleman De Mee? Well, as I was exiting Charlie's chocolate factory the other day after getting the golden ticket for Willie Mullins' stable tour, the final name on the list was Zenta, a four-year-old filly who is already a Grade 1 winner and is set to be sent straight over fences to try to take full advantage of all the allowances as a four-year-old female. She was yet another whippersnapper owned by McManus who could make a real name for herself this season and it dawned on me that the team in green and gold has never contained so much talent. Not in my lifetime, not ever, and the likes of Easysland, Darasso and Gentleman De Mee are about to be substituted and replaced by new and improved versions.