Four Cheltenham dark horses that we could see at the Dublin Racing Festival

Liam Bramall

Published: January 26, 2025

Horse racing is in Liam's blood and his biggest passion is jumps racing. He can often be found at his favourite tracks; Chepstow and Cheltenham in the Autumn when the National Hunt action kicks off. In his own words: "I'm often referred to as a walking form book, a trait which comes in handy from time to time. My proudest tipping success to date was landing a whopping 682-1 accumulator at Epsom."

The Dublin Racing Festival is swiftly approaching and we’re all hoping that there will be Cheltenham pointers aplenty. Many horses will arrive on the Cheltenham scene and many bubbles will burst, which means it’s essential viewing. We’ve picked out four Cheltenham Festival dark horses that we could see at Leopardstown beforehand and are well worth adding to your notebooks. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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Gannon’s City Recovery & Recycling Services Juvenile Hurdle

A number of horses have made themselves prime Cheltenham Festival candidates by running in this Grade 1 event and Zaynab could be one to watch if the filly lines up. Trained by Gordon Elliott, she won two of her four starts on the Flat, including a valuable handicap over a mile, and made a good impression when winning over hurdles. We don’t know if the Fred Winter or Triumph Hurdle would be the target at this point but a big run would put her in the mix for both.

Zaynab

Analysis

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Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup

Monty’s Star may well have found 2m7f at Tramore a little on the sharp side last time and is likely to improve for the run too. He has a similar profile to Minella Indo and the Gold Cup at Cheltenham would surely be a suitable test. Galopin Des Champs and Fact To File will be tough nuts to crack but he could easily take third before a crack at Cheltenham’s showpiece.

Monty's Star

Analysis

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Ladbrokes Novice Chase

Albert Bartlett winner Stellar Story scored narrowly in a Grade 2 at Punchestown on chase debut and something was clearly amiss at Leopardstown over Christmas. One would imagine the Brown Advisory and the National Hunt Chase will be under consideration next month and if he bounces back with a solid run here, it will be all systems go for Cheltenham.

Stellar Story

Analysis

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Ladbrokes Dublin Chase

Found A Fifty below-par effort at Leopardstown last time out was excused by the vet so it’s easy to forgive that performance. Gordon Elliott’s gelding would have an outside chance in both the Champion Chase and the Ryanair and may well have snuck under the radar this term. A two-time Grade 1 winner as a novice last season, he has the ability to make his presence felt.

Found A Fifty

Analysis

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