Kevin Blake's Big Race Verdict: Fast won't be too slow in John Durkan Chase

• John Durkan Chase the feature at Punchestown on Sunday

• Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs unlikely to be cherry ripe

• Course specialist Fastorslow is Kevin Blake's fancy

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There will be a great amount of focus on the action at Punchestown this weekend, with the Kildare track playing host to a wide range of current and potential stars over the course of a two-day meeting.

The world of National Hunt racing has been anxiously (or fearfully, depending on your outlook) awaiting the emergence of Willie Mullins' A-team from Closutton and this weekend will signal the first wave of what will be a relentless barrage in the weeks ahead.

Race full of seasonal debutants poses tactical dilemma

The John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase (14:25) is the feature event on Sunday and on paper it is one of the strongest renewals in recent memory.

It has attracted the two best staying chasers in training in Galopin Des Champs and Fastorslow in addition to no less than four individual Grade 1 novice chasers from last season. Even if they can't all be reasonably expected to be cherry ripe for their returns to action, a race of this depth is exactly what every Grade 1 chase should aspire to be.

Mind, with all of the nine runners making their seasonal return, that introduces a lot of unknowns into the equation not just in terms of their state of readiness for the task at hand, but also in terms of trying to assess how the race will pan out in tactical terms.

Don't expect Galopin to be fully tuned up

Galopin Des Champs has been a fascinating character study during his chasing career. Initially, he was a sensationally aggressive and fast jumper as a novice chaser, visibly speeding up on the approach to fences and standing a mile off them.

4

Galopin Des Champs (Fr)

• J: P. Townend
• T: W. P. Mullins, Ireland
• F:

In his second season over fences, his connections set about trying to make him a less aggressive and more energy efficient jumper with a view to giving him the best chance of staying the much longer trip of the Gold Cup. They duly succeeded in that goal and he claimed the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow, but an unintended consequence of the mission was that his jumping lost some of its fluency.

Two defeats at the hooves of Fastorslow seemed to lead to his connections having a tactical rethink. With his Gold Cup stamina proven, they started giving him more positive rides again and he duly returned to winning ways in his next three starts including his second victory in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, but his jumping still hasn't come back to what it was in his novice days.

The thought that a positively-ridden Galopin De Champs would prove to be unbeatable came unstuck in the Punchestown Gold Cup back in May with his old rival Fastorslow getting the better of him once again.

So, let us hammer into those occasions when Galopin Des Champs has been beaten over fences. We won't count his last-fence fall in the Turners' Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival as that can safely be filed into the "Act of God" folder without any great relevance to the future. All three of his other defeats have come at Punchestown, all of them involved Fastorslow finishing in front of him and his weakest performance amongst them came on his return to action in this race last year when Appreciate It also managed to finish in front of him.

One thing we know about Willie Mullins is that for all his infamous public indecision, he is ultimately a creature of habit. He gave Galopin Des Champs a campaign that by modern standards was notably aggressive last season. He rocked up at all the big Grade 1 dances and won three of his five starts.

It would be a surprise if he wasn't thrilled with how it all went, so I suspect he'll set out to replicate that campaign as best he can this season.

If he is expecting Galopin Des Champs to run five times this season, he won't have the screws turned tightly for his seasonal return at Punchestown. That was the case last season and I strongly suspect it will be the case this season. He might get away with not being cherry ripe in a lesser renewal of this race, but this is tip-top fare and I suspect Paul Townend will be riding him sympathetically if the race starts to get away from him.

Course lover can land another Grade 1

3

Fastorslow (Fr)

• J: Mr D. O'Connor
• T: Martin Brassil, Ireland
• F:

With that in mind, I think this could be a fine opportunity for the Martin Brassil-trained Fastorslow to get another one up on Galopin Des Champs. He was produced in fine shape to win this race on his return to action last year and his excellent jumping in a big asset for him when he drops down from staying trips.

He also seems to be particularly effective around Punchestown, with his last three visits to the track leading to Grade 1 victories. As with every other runner in the race, his fitness needs to be taken on trust, but he is the one that makes the most appeal to me.

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