'It looks as though he's still on the upgrade' - Saint Sam seeking a fourth success on the trot

When Saint Sam unshipped Sean O'Keeffe at the fourth fence of the 2022 Arkle and then trailed in last of six behind Blue Lord in a Grade 1 at the Punchestown festival the following month, it looked as though his chasing career was going nowhere. 

That looked even more likely when Willie Mullins decided to run him back over hurdles for his next four starts, but a three-runner chase at Tramore in April, for which he started 2-11, acted as the perfect confidence booster as he won by 20 lengths and followed it up with an emphatic victory in a Grade 3 at Killarney. 

Then last time out at Galway, Saint Sam looked a different horse altogether and one who could potentially compete in Grade 1s. The free-going six-year-old turned a conditions chase, in which all his rivals were rated 138 or higher, into a procession from the front and won by 13 lengths with Paul Townend barely moving a muscle all the way up the home straight. He could have won by treble the margin he did. 

According to RPRs, it was the best display of his career as he was given a mark of 158, 2lb higher than anything he had achieved previously. 

Townend has picked Saint Sam over stablemate Easy Game and that is a significant endorsement given his elder stablemate has won this race for the last two years and the champion jockey has been on board for nine of his 17 victories.

Easy Game:Credit: Patrick McCann

Easy Game never got involved in the Galway Plate last time under Patrick Mullins, suffering his first defeat in more than a year after four straight wins. Any rain will detract from his chance.

A bigger danger to Saint Sam could be Visionarian. The eight-year-old has brought his form to a whole new level over fences and jumped superbly last time at Ballinrobe when winning cosily and earning an RPR of 154. 

He travelled as well as anything into the dip in the Galway Plate before finishing fifth and as a point-to-point winner over 3m, this 2m4f trip looks ideal.

Dancing On My Own produced a really gutsy display to fight back and land the Red Rum Handicap Chase at Aintree's Grand National meeting in April but did not jump with the same sort of zest when beaten by Easy Game at the June meeting here. 

Henry de Bromhead's nine-year-old has never won beyond 2m1f so he has stamina questions to answer and is the lowest-rated of the four runners on a mark of 147.

What they say

Willie Mullins, trainer of Easy Game and Saint Sam
Saint Sam is on a roll and I thought he improved hugely at Galway last time. That was a big performance and it looks as though he's still on the upgrade. This looked a nice race for him and hopefully he can continue going in the right direction. This has been lucky for Easy Game over the last few years but the weather forecast is a worry. Any rain won't do him any favours, that's for sure.

Peter Fahey, trainer of Visionarian
It's very competitive but I liked the way he travelled at Ballinrobe and he jumped great too. I think the step up in trip will suit him and hopefully the ground won't be too bad. He'll probably have it all to do to beat Saint Sam.

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