Impressive Fact To File looks a Gold Cup horse in the making

The novice chase division really came to life over the festive period. Firstly, Il Est Francais ran out an impressive winner on Boxing Day, achieving a Racing Post Rating of 168. We also witnessed high-class performances in Ireland, most notably that of Marine Nationale. Last season's Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner achieved an RPR of 156 when forging more than eight lengths clear of Firm Footings (139) on his chase debut. 

With last season's Supreme second Facile Vega disappointing on the 26th, Gaelic Warrior (160) is potentially Marine Nationale’s biggest threat in the 2m novice chase division, but it looks unlikely at this stage that he would drop down in trip with both of his chase wins coming at around 2m3f. As things stand and with improvement likely, it really is Marine Nationale’s Arkle to lose. 

One of the best novice chase performances over the festive period came at Leopardstown on December 28. Last season’s Champion Bumper second Fact To File (160) took a big step forward on just his second start over fences with a winning margin of 17 lengths. The time of the race was very good and the performance itself ranks up with the best novice chase performances this season. This was the fourth time in the past five years the 2m5f race has been won by Willie Mullins, and perhaps indicates how highly they rate Fact To File at Closutton.