It has been a little quieter on these pages lately, but that is changing again now. This time our view goes to Ireland, because many of the Irish cracks for the Cheltenham Festival are in action on Saturday and Sunday at the third edition of the Dublin Racing Festival in Leopardstown. Jump racing at its best: Four Grade 1 races on Saturday, the same number again on Sunday, promise lots of class and excitement. Five top horses of the festival. Chacun Pour Soi (Ladbroke Dublin Chase): It was in April 2019 during the Punchestown Festival, when the name Chacun Pour Soi was on everyone's lips. He had easily defeated Defi Du Seuil and Duc Des Genievres in the Ryanair Novice Chase. The defeated horses had won the JLT Novice Chase and the Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, two of the most important races for young chasers. It was a fantastic performance by the gelding who had come to Willie Mullins from France in December 2016. He was, like many Mullins horses, not yet at 1
As in the weeks before, a preview of the race of the week in England should appear here. But after the events of last weekend I don't feel like it. Because it was a sad race weekend. Nevertheless, there is a small outlook on the top events of the coming weekend. So let's start with Houblon Des Obeaux : The twelve-year-old gelding collapsed when he reached the twelfth obstacle of the London Handicap, the last race of the Tingle Creek Meeting in Sandown. The veterinarians diagnosed heart failure. What makes the loss so painful is that he was a horse which has accompanied the columnist for years. Like many other chasers and hurdlers. "He had been with us for nine years and was a big favourite in the stable," said a visibly agitated coach Venetia Williams after the race. In November Houblon Des Obeaux won in Sandown, where he often ran very well - until this fatal accident. If he had his favourite soft ground, "he was a great warrior who would never g