Clonmel Oil Chase: quotes and big-race views
Jumps fans are served up a midweek treat in Ireland on Thursday as one of the sport’s superstars makes his long-awaited return in the Clonmel Oil Chase.
Willie Mullins has landed seven of the last 10 editions of the Grade Two feature at Powerstown Park, with Champagne Fever (2014), Kemboy (2018) and Douvan (2019) among those on the roll of honour.
This year the champion trainer saddles two of the of declared runners, with Janidil joined by his long-absent and esteemed stablemate Allaho.
The Cheveley Park Stud-owned gelding was spectacular in winning back-to-back renewals of the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham, pummelling his rivals by 12 and 14 lengths respectively, before successfully stepping up to three miles with a 14-length demolition job in the 2022 Punchestown Gold Cup.
He has not been seen in competitive action since the latter of those triumphs 19 months ago, but will nevertheless be a short price to dispatch of his three rivals in the hands of Paul Townend.
“Allaho has been fantastic for us, winning a couple of Ryanairs, a Punchestown Gold Cup and a John Durkan. It’s great to see him back and hopefully he can show us that he’s back to his best,” said Cheveley Park Stud director Richard Thompson.
“He’s nine turning 10 in January, he’s been one of the stalwarts from the bunch of jumps horses we bought and hopefully we’ll still have some good days with him.
“He’s been off the track since April 2022, a good year and a half, so it will be fascinating to see him back and we’ll see how he gets on.
“Before he got injured last season we hoped he might be a three-time winner of the Ryanair and hopefully still can be.”
The biggest threat to the Mullins pair is French Dynamite, who bids to provide Mouse Morris with another big-race win following Gentlemansgame’s victory in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby on Saturday.
Morris said: “He’ll probably take the run and it would be hard to think we’ll beat Allaho, but it’s a good place to start and it will put him right for wherever we want to go afterwards.”
John Ryan’s outsider Grange Walk completes the quartet.
Is Allaho home and hosed?
By Tom Thurgood
Allaho hasn't been seen for 561 days, but he dismissed Clan Des Obeaux by 14 lengths in the Punchestown Gold Cup from an official rating of 176 on that latest occasion and the clear form pick here is a current 2-5 chance to make a successful return on his belated reappearance.
The Clonmel Oil Chase has proven a good race for Willie Mullins this century (6 from 14, 1.06 A/E) with the yard 6 from 9 in the last decade, while this is a race that has seldom thrown up big surprises in recent years - indeed, backing favourites in this since 1997 would have yielded a small profit (+£6.76, 1.27 A/E).
However, Allaho has been off for a long time and he returns on heavy ground, while his overall form suggests he unsurprisingly peaks in the spring. His form figures for his three seasonal openers over fences read 261. Since 2010, trainer Willie Mullins is 3 from 23 (-£16.72, 0.97 A/E) with runners returning after a break of 500 days or more in Listed, Grade Three and Grade Two races over jumps.
He should score here but is one to watch rather than back with your hard-earned, with stablemate Janidil looking best of the rest. He was only beaten a little more than two lengths by Allaho in a red-hot renewal of the John Durkan on seasonal reappearance two seasons ago - faring best of those from off the pace - and while has run well at the top level on several occasions he doesn't look quite up to that class (253207 in Grade One chases in senior company). He would be two from three at Grade Two level but for falling at the last on his latest run at Fairyhouse and it's not inconceivable that he could give the favourite something to think about on testing ground that he has proven adept on.
Bachasson beat the more fancied Cilaos Emery in this race for Closutton in 2023, while the odds-on Blue Lord just prevailed by a neck from Tornado Flyer in another four-runner contest last year, and while it would go down as a big surprise another turn-up doesnt look wholly out of the question.
