#Absolute Notions

Honeysuckle and Rachael Blackmore will aim to bounce back from her first defeat at Fairyhouse to win a fourth consecutive Irish Champion Hurdle This year's Dublin Racing Festival looks set to play host to a star-studded line-up after early entries for the two-day Irish calendar highlight at Leopardstown were revealed on Thursday. Eight Grade 1s…

Gordon Elliott smashed the bookies with a massive priced four timer - Party Central (9/4), Mighty Potter (20/1), Felix Desjy (11/1) and Absolute Notions (25/1) all going in on the opening day for the Cullentra trainer. Energumene was one of the few Cheltenham Festival winners to stand up the form when he fended off Chacun Pour Soi in the Champion…

After a feast of festival horse racing action, there is much to take stock of for punters ahead of the big spring festivals. Even at this early stage, there are many hot favourites for the 2023 Cheltenham Festival. Constitution Hill has looked freakish and may even scare off two-time champion Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle, while Galopin Des…

With conditions turning milder there is confidence racing will resume on Sunday, with an all-weather meeting scheduled to take place at Wolverhampton. Ireland is set to stage jumps cards at Navan and Thurles. Navan will hold an inspection at 8am, with some improvement still needed but officials "cautiously optimistic", while a 7.30am precautionary…

ALLIGATOR ALLEY rates a worthy market leader for the BetUK's Acca Club £5 Free Bet Handicap (2.39) at Wolverhampton. The David O'Meara-trained five-year-old was back to winning form on Tapeta with a one-length score at Southwell 12 days ago. And the 4lb rise he has been given in the weights may not be enough to stop Jason Watson's mount from going…

Punchestown's John Durkan Memorial Chase card, frozen off last Sunday, is set to be run this Monday, eight days later. Thursday's Naas card has been re-scheduled and is set for Tuesday, Fairyhouse's Saturday card, defeat admitted on Friday morning, has been moved to Wednesday, and what was originally a week that was starved of Irish National Hunt…

Galvin, Conflated and Fil Dor are among the big names set to be in action for Gordon Elliott over the festive period as the Cullentra handler shuffles his pack for Leopardstown's Christmas Festival. Elliott has enjoyed huge success at the four-day meeting in recent years, with Galvin's thrilling Savills Chase victory over A Plus Tard a clear…

Willie Mullins' charge was one of the leading lights in the bumper ranks in the 2020-21 season, chasing home Sir Gerhard at Cheltenham before landing Grade One glory at the Punchestown Festival, but he proved disappointing over hurdles last term, winning only once in five starts. Switched to fences, the 1/5 favourite delighted jockey Paul Townend…

The 4-7 favourite had eight and a half lengths to spare over Chacun Pour Soi at the finishing line, with Envoi Allen third and Captain Guinness fourth. "He jumped great. It was a good race and we came out on the right side of it," said winning jockey Townend. "We rode the race we wanted and it was good enough to come out on top." Having provided…