Is this the greatest day of jump racing staged in Ireland? Quite possibly

Breaking news: Cheltenham has been uprooted and dropped in south Dublin for two days that defy the laws of pre-festival tradition.

February is supposed to be the time to avoid confrontation at all costs. If somebody you fear looks you in the eye, walk away and wait for mid-March. Do not dare get sucked into a skirmish before then just in case your character gets called into question. Bubbles are rarely burst during the shortest month of the year. It was never worth it.

Only now it is. More than €2.1 million in prize-money and eight Grade 1s have made sure of that. The Dublin Racing Festival has changed the whole complexion of the jumps season and, if you do not believe me, just take a look at the ludicrously good line-up for the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase.

In times gone by, Willie Mullins would have run Chacun Pour Soi and left it at that. Not now. He has instead decided to pitch each and every one of his top two-mile chasers in against each other. No, really, he has.

A splash of Chacun, mixed with Min, Cilaos Emery and Duc Des Genievres is the type of Closutton cocktail we have rarely tasted before March. A Plus Tard is in there too, meaning the only ones in the field not to have previously been successful at Grade 1 level are Castlegrace Paddy and Ordinary World, and there is nothing ordinary about that pair.

There is nothing ordinary about the Irish Champion Hurdle either. In fact, there is more chance of something extraordinary happening. Honeysuckle has never gone left-handed, her last three wins have been over 2m4f and the handicapper thinks she is only the fourth most talented horse in the race, yet there is something about her which screams superstar.

Honeysuckle: an impressive winner of the Hatton's Grace HurdleCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Perhaps it is the fact she has never been beaten, or that she has won her six starts by a combined total of almost 47 lengths, or because she brushed aside Bacardys and Apple’s Jade in the Hatton's Grace as though they were harmless handicappers. We presumed we would have to wait until the second Tuesday in March to find out just how good she is, but that question will now be answered nearly six weeks early.

Honeysuckle is taking on Sharjah at his happiest hunting ground so she might need to be a superstar to beat him. Patrick Mullins has kept the ride on that three-time Grade 1 winner and rightly so. Calling him an amateur does a tremendous injustice to his ability and he is seeking the 15th top-level win of his career.

Mullins was mocked at this meeting two years ago after saying "no horse should ever be odds-on against Sharjah". The horse he was referring to was Samcro. He might have been wrong then, but he is right now.

Henry de Bromhead was also right about Notebook. He knew his son of Samum would turn out to be a better chaser than hurdler, but not even he could have predicted the stratospheric rise since he switched to fences.

Notebook was 50-1 with Paddy Power for the Racing Post Arkle in mid-November. He is 7-2 favourite now. Fakir D’Oudairies has done something similar, although his rise has not been quite so spectacular.

The pair renew rivalry in the Arkle Novice Chase, but this time there are four representatives from the Willie Mullins stable gunning for them.

Spare a thought for poor old Paul Townend. Ireland’s champion jockey had some big decisions to make on Thursday morning and the biggest surprise of all was seeing him opt for Melon from the Mullins menu rather than Bapaume or Cash Back, who were shorter in the betting.

Latest Exhibition with trainer Paul Nolan and jockey Bryan CooperCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Bryan Cooper was once in similar shoes. He usually had a couple to choose from heading into the big races, but it is almost three years since he was sacked as Gigginstown's number one and a return to the big time for the jockey is long overdue.

Latest Exhibition could be the one to get him there. Paul Nolan's great white hope is favourite for the first Grade 1 of the weekend, and it is not hard to make a compelling case for him.

You could also argue that this is the greatest day of jump racing ever staged in Ireland. The Dublin Racing Festival is still a relatively new concept, only in its third year, but it is here to stay if today is anything to go by.

Seldom has a Saturday been sprinkled with such stardust.

Read all the Dublin Racing Festival previews here:

De Bromhead wary of step up in class as unbeaten Honeysuckle faces toughest test

Chacun Pour Soi looks the wrong favourite with Min likely to prove tough to beat

Joseph O'Brien: It's going to be exciting, it'll be run at a furious gallop

D-Day for Latest Exhibition as Paul Nolan bids to get back in the big time

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