DAY three of Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival is many people’s favourite day of the four-day festival.
Two Grade 1 races are featured, but most attention will focus on the returning two-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Galopin Des Champs. Thirty-five minutes before the eagerly anticipated Savills Chase, the stayers hurdle division will see another competitive contest as old rivals battle for supremacy.
Get the latest odds for day three of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival from the best online betting sites here.
🏇 Leopardstown Christmas Festival Three Race Schedule
- 12:10 Savills Maiden Hurdle – 2m4f
- 12:45 Mercedes Benz South Dublin Handicap Hurdle – 2m4f
- 1:20 Ballymaloe Relish Rising Stars Beginners Chase – 2m5½f
- 1:55 Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle – 3m
- 2:30 Grade 1 Savills Chase – 3m½f
- 3:05 Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle – 2m7½f
- 3:40 Forest Fest INH Flat Race – 2m
Odds provided by top horse racing betting sites are correct at the time of writing, and are subject to change.
Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle: Ballyburn’s Stamina To Be Put To The Test
On the back of Impose Toi and Honesty Policy laying down a serious marker in the Long Walk Hurdle last weekend, it is the turn of some of the best that the Irish have to offer to lay down their own marker.
Ballyburn went agonizingly close to reeling in Teahupoo in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse last month. He gets his chance of redemption today. The former Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle winner returns to hurdles this season after a less-than-successful time over the larger obstacles. As always, Ballyburn tends to over-race during his races, which ultimately cost him on his return to hurdling.
He now steps up to three miles over hurdles for the first time. There will always be the nagging feeling that, unless he learns to relax during races, his chances of lasting this stamina test drop as the race goes on. So, Ballyburn has to be taken on, especially at his current odds.
His Fairyhouse conqueror Teahupoo will look to thwart Ballyburn once again. However, the bigger danger from the Gordon Elliott runners may come from The Yellow Clay.
The Yellow Clay was bitterly disappointing when turned over at 8/15 on his seasonal return. He ran like a horse that would improve a lot for the run. At one stage, he looked like he would drop well out of contention, but to his credit, he stuck at it all the way to the line on deep, tacky ground.
There should be a massive improvement from this Grade 1 winning novice hurdler. Now he faces three miles for the first time—a trip that has always promised to suit the son of Yeats.
It’s not going to be easy for the Gordon Elliott runner. But his younger legs and potential can take him to victory.
- Selection: The Yellow Clay
➡️ Bet on THE YELLOW CLAY for the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle here with bet365
Grade 1 Savills Chase: The Return Of A Generational Chaser
Many have been waiting for this day: Galopin Des Champs, one of the best staying chasers to ever grace a racecourse, returns. He met a slight setback early this season and missed his intended comeback in the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown. Now, the two-time Gold Cup and Savills Chase winner has been given the green light to race.
Galopin Des Champs’ return sees him square off with Inothewayurthinkin. Inothewayurthinkin thwarted Willie Mullins’ stable star’s bid for three Cheltenham Gold Cups in a row. You can argue Galopin Des Champs was not at his brilliant best that day. He showed his defeat in the Gold Cup was a mere blip by routing rivals in the Punchestown Gold Cup.
Inothewayurthinkin has race fitness on his side coming in here. Still, even the biggest fan of the reigning Gold Cup champion could not have been happy with the flat performance he put in at Punchestown. It was over an inadequate trip, but he still looked slower than usual.
The pair met twice over this course and distance last season. Galopin Des Champs comfortably beat Inothewayurthinkin and all others both times. If Galopin Des Champs came here with a recent run, you could not imagine anyone beating him on a track where he has yet to lose as a chaser. Still, doubts remain this year because of Willie Mullins’s horses’ form on their seasonal debuts. If he is ever to be beaten at Leopardstown, then today might be the day.
However, given his record at Leopardstown and the fact that we are not talking about an average chaser, but the two-time Gold Cup hero, who relishes this track, it is going to take a career-best performance from his rivals to get the best of him today.
When all is said and done, the stands at Leopardstown will roar in unison as Galopin Des Champs gallops his way to his third Savills Chase win.
- Selection: Galopin Des Champs
➡️ Bet on GALOPIN DES CHAMPS for the Grade 1 Savills Chase here with bet365
About the author
Craig Mahood
Craig Mahood is an expert in sports betting and online casinos and has worked with the company since 2020. He joined the Betting & Gaming team at The Sun in June 2022 and works closely with the leading bookmakers and online gaming companies to provide content on all areas of sports betting and gaming. He previously worked as a Digital Sports Reporter at the Scottish Sun, covering Scottish football with particular focus on Celtic and Rangers, As well as football, he has covered horse racing, boxing, darts, the Olympics and tennis for the Sun.
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