Willie Mullins was the dominant figure at the 2024 Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown, as the master of Closutton dominated the flurry of Graded races during the two-day National Hunt extravaganza. However, there was one mightily-impressive performance that shone brighter than most and that was Ballyburn’s sumptuous Grade 1 win in the Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle on Sunday afternoon and it’s seen the six-year-old slashed in the betting for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next month.
A shock defeat to Firefox on hurdling debut at Fairyhouse back in December saw him fail to kick off his jumping career on a winning note, but Ballyburn bounced back with a facile win at Leopardstown next time out over 2m 4f, which had some thinking he could be a leading Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle contender (currently 3/1 favourite), but a drop back to two miles last weekend saw him blossom and beat some tidy rivals by seven lengths.
Kicking clear on the turn for home under Paul Townend, Ballyburn sauntered clear of his adversaries to claim a first Graded victory and his ability to stay further than two miles means that he looks an ideal candidate for the Supreme on March 12. He’s now a best-priced 7/4 favourite to win the Cheltenham Festival curtain-raiser.
While the likes of stablemate Mystical Power and Nicky Henderson’s Jeriko Du Reponet have been touted as leading Supreme contenders they have failed to show the same qualities that Ballyburn did at the Dublin Racing Festival and should the Mullins operation opt to keep him over two miles and not step up to 2m 5f and the Baring Bingham at Cheltenham then he’s going to be the one they all have to beat.
Slade Steel, who finished a creditable runner-up does look like one that could step up in distance next time out and he’s now second favourite for the Baring Bingham, which opens day two of Cheltenham next month, but the pair both look very smart individuals and both are extremely exciting prospects for connections.
Looking For More Racing Info? Check Out Our Racecards & Top Tips Sections
Make sure you’re following us on all our social media platforms to keep up to date with all the latest horse racing news and the best tips.