'He won't be out of form for too long' - Henry de Bromhead's festive five-horse raid on Grade 1 glory The festive period is always a highlight of the season as there is lots of top-class racing on offer. We’ll all be hoping for some Cheltenham Festival pointers and there should be plenty from Leopardstown and Limerick in Ireland. Henry de Bromhead is one of Ireland’s best trainers and although he has had a quiet spell recently, a trainer of his standard won’t be out of form for too long. We’ve picked out five of his potential runners over Christmas who could get the yard firing once again. July Flower - Racing Post Novice Chase (Leopardstown) July Flower was very competitive in Grade 1 races in France for previous connections and she looked good when winning a Grade 3 for mares at Leopardstown over Christmas last year, with the smart Kala Conti four lengths behind her in second. Henry de Bromhead’s mare made the perfect start to life over fences when winning a beginners’ chase at Limerick in October. She then went over to Cheltenham for a Grade 2 in November and managed to come out on top by a length-and-a-half. This could be a pretty strong Grade 1 but she deserves her place in the field and should be capable of making her presence felt. Captain Guinness - Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase (Leopardstown) A well established performer in the top two-mile chases on both sides of the Irish Sea, Captain Guinness won the Champion Chase at Cheltenham back in 2024 and was a neck away from following up at Punchestown after that. If the big guns fail to fire, there’s every chance that he can pick up the pieces once again. He’s much better than he showed at Navan last time out and although age isn’t on his side, he deserves another chance. Mister Pessimistic - Future Champions Novice Hurdle (Leopardstown) This horse won a Loughanmore point-to-point by four-and-a-half lengths for Sean Doyle in April and was privately purchased off the back of that success. He won a bumper at Listowel on debut for this yard and the runner-up has since won at Listed level. Winning well over hurdles at Cork last month, he was plenty keen enough that day and will hopefully have learnt from the experience. He could line up in this Grade 1 contest and based on potential, he wouldn’t look out of place. The Big Westerner - Faugheen Novice Chase (Limerick) Henry de Bromhead picked out this mare as a potential star in his stable tour at the start of the season and she was a strong stayer as a novice hurdler during the last campaign. She chased home Jasmin De Vaux in the Albert Bartlett and looks like a chaser in the making. Winning a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Limerick last Christmas, she stuck to her task well to hold second at Cheltenham after that and was second again on chasing debut, behind Jimmy Du Seuil. We haven’t seen the best of her yet and improvement is anticipated. Bob Olinger - Christmas Hurdle (Leopardstown) Ireland’s version of the Christmas Hurdle is run over just shy of three miles and is therefore the perfect race for defending Stayers’ Hurdle champion Bob Olinger to make his first start of the season. He looked very special as a novice hurdler and showed hints of that at Cheltenham in March. He could only manage second when running in this race last year but a rating of 164 tells us he’s the best horse in the race so it would be unwise to rule him out.
