Joseph O'Brien Stable Tour

Form profile

A 168-rated chaser, he has won six of his 11 starts over fences including the Champion Chase at the Punchestown Festival in April and the King George VI Chase at Kempton in December.

Trainer says

We’ve been delighted with Banbridge since the King George. Everyone knows at this stage that he has a big preference for better ground, so we’ll leave all options open for Cheltenham just in case there is changeable weather that week. That said, if all things were equal and the ground was right for him all week, the Gold Cup is the one we’d really like to run in. In terms of his stamina for the longer trip, it isn’t something I’m concerned about. If we get unlucky and the ground was too soft for him at Cheltenham, we’d look to go to Aintree with him instead. He seems to be getting better and hopefully we haven’t found his ceiling yet.

Form profile

A 117-rated hurdler, she made it third-time lucky over hurdles when winning a maiden at Fairyhouse in December.

Trainer says

She got off the mark over hurdles at Fairyhouse and has been training well since then. She’ll probably be on the borderline to get in, but we’re aiming to send her straight to the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. She should be versatile in ground terms.

Form profile

A 139-rated chaser, he won the Kerry National in 2022 and most recently shaped well in a cross-country handicap chase at Cheltenham in December.

Trainer says

I was happy with his run over hurdles at Navan over the week. The plan for him is to go to the Cross-Country Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. I thought he took quite well to the obstacles when he ran over them in December, and we’ll probably put blinkers or cheekpieces back on him at Cheltenham.

Form profile

A 133-rated hurdler, he has won three of his 10 starts over hurdles and most recently finished a close third in a valuable handicap hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting

Trainer says

He ran well at the Christmas meeting at Leopardstown. He seems best kept fresh, so we decided to skip the Dublin Racing Festival with him. We’ll enter him in the likes of the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle and the Coral Cup and will make a decision on a target closer to the time.

Form profile

A 148-rated chaser, he is a four-time Grade 1 winner over fences that most recently made his debut over cross-country fences in a handicap at Cheltenham in December.

Trainer says

We’ll see how he is in the coming weeks. If he’s well, I’d say he’ll most likely run in the Cross-Country Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. He ran ok in his first attempt at that course in December and I’d be hopeful he’ll come on from that and be sharper around there next time as he’ll need to be.

Form profile

Rated 96 on the Flat, she improved from her hurdling debut to finish ¾-length second to Hello Neighbour in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Trainer says

We were thrilled with her run in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle. She had been quite raw at her hurdles on her first start over them, so we dropped her in to educate her and try to pick up some pieces, so she really excelled herself to finish such a good second. Her jumping improved a lot from first start to second, so the hope will be that she can improve again. We’ll enter her in both the Triumph Hurdle and the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but I’d say at this stage the Triumph would look her more likely target. She’ll lack hurdling experience going there, but she has to go there based on her last run. She really enjoys soft ground and rain would help her.

Form profile

A 159-rated hurdler, he has won both the Lismullen Hurdle at Navan and the Savills Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting for the second time this season.

Trainer says

We’ve been particularly happy with Home By The Lee since Christmas. He’s training great. He’s had three goes at the Stayers’ Hurdle and has run well every time, but he’s on track to get there in his best shape yet I’d say, fingers crossed. He has just been really sweet this season. To see him do what he did without headgear in the Lismullen and then win so well with the headgear back on at Christmas, he just seems to be in a really good place physically and mentally.

Form profile

A 145-rated chaser, he won a Grade 3 novice chase at Punchestown in November and finished second in the Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick’s Christmas meeting.

Trainer says

He’ll more than likely go for the novices’ handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival. I thought he ran really well in the Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick’s Christmas meeting. He might have been a bit flattered to finish so close to Impaire Et Passe as he looked to be idling in front, but it was a good run and hopefully he can find more improvement off his revised rating.

Form profile

A 132-rated hurdler, he got off the mark over hurdles in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Trainer says

We’re hoping he gets into one of the handicap hurdles. The County Hurdle would be our preference, but he’ll have an entry in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle too. He isn’t the easiest horse to keep right, he picked up an injury in the Swinton Handicap Hurdle at Haydock last year, but he is talented, and his comeback run was promising. He won the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the meeting last year and if we can get him back there in good shape, he’ll hopefully acquit himself very well again.

Form profile

Made an impressive winning debut in a bumper at Naas in January.

Trainer says

She’s a filly I like a lot, but she’s only four and I don’t think she’s going to go to Cheltenham this year. We’ll most likely run her in the Listed bumper for four-year-olds at Limerick on March 23rd. She will be running in JP McManus’s silks the next time she runs and we are looking forward to her.

Form profile

A 135-rated hurdler, he won a maiden hurdle at Limerick in October and finished second in a Grade 3 novice hurdle at Navan in November.

Trainer says

We are looking at the Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle at Thurles on February 20th for him. The track should suit him, but he’s going to need to jump better to fulfil his potential.

Form profile

A 135-rated hurdler, he made it second-time lucky over hurdles when winning a Grade 3 juvenile hurdle at Fairyhouse in December.

Trainer says

We are aiming him at the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. The Grade 3 that he won at Fairyhouse fell back into his lap after the leaders went too hard and he found it a bit tougher in Grade 2 company last time. He’s a horse we’ve always liked, and better ground would play to his strengths, but he’ll have plenty of weight to carry.

Form profile

A 140-rated chaser, he won the Galway Hurdle in August and has run well without winning in his first three starts over fences.

Trainer says

We are looking at the novices’ handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival with him. We would have liked to get another run into him for experience as his jumping has been a mixed bag over fences so far, but we’ll do what we can with him in terms of schooling between now and then to try and sharpen him up.

Form profile

A 114-rated hurdler, she won a maiden hurdle a Limerick’s Christmas meeting and finished a close second on her handicap debut at Punchestown in January.

Trainer says

We’d like to run her in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but I’d say she’s going to struggle to get in. She was a bit slow to get the hang of hurdling, but I liked her last run, and she might have won with a cleaner jump at the last. She’s progressing and can hopefully win again this season.

Form profile

A 124-rated hurdler, he won a maiden hurdle at Cork in December prior to finishing second in a rated novice hurdle at Fairyhouse in February.

Trainer says

He’s one for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. He ran well at Fairyhouse the other day, but was finding the ground softer than ideal. He’s one that would prefer a sounder surface at Cheltenham. He seems to be progressive and should have no issues getting into the race after being raised a few pounds.

Form profile

A 137-rated chaser, he has won two of his nine starts over fences including a Grade 3 novice chase at Roscommon in September.

Trainer says

We’ll give him entries in both the Grand Annual and the novices’ handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but I’d say the latter would be his likelier target at this stage. He has a lot of experience for a novice, and I think a big-field handicap will play to his strengths. He enjoyed a confidence-boosting win on the Flat at Dundalk the other day and that should put him in a good place for Cheltenham.

Form profile

A 161-rated chaser, he has won six times over fences including the Paddy's Rewards Club Chase and the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown in his last two starts.

Trainer says

He has been a star this season and is all guns blazing for the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He has produced two career-best efforts in succession and seems to be in a great place. An aggressive ride seems to suit him well and I thought he put in a consistently sharp round of jumping last time which was great to see as he hasn’t always been the most consistent jumper. He’s one that wouldn’t want too much rain. We’ll see if they want to follow him at Cheltenham, but if they do, they’ll have to go hard to stay on his tail.