3 minute read
Fastorslow has the option to take in either the Irish Gold Cup or the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at Leopardstown next month en-route to Cheltenham.
Martin Brassil's charge recorded a surprise success over Galopin Des Champs in the Punchestown Gold Cup in April, but there was certainly no fluke about his defeat of Willie Mullins' reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup hero in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase on his seasonal reappearance this season.
The pair were set to meet for a third time in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over the Christmas period, but Brassil withdrew his contender on the morning of the Grade 1 prize as ground conditions continued to worsen.
Although Fastorslow was absent from the quality Grade 1 line-up, it was hard not to be impressed with the twenty-three-length romp Galopin Des Champ produced at Leopardstown that day.
Speaking with the PA News Agency, Brassil said: "He [Galopin Des Champ] was great wasn't he? He really was. It's two-nil at the moment anyway."
Both Fastorslow and Galopin Des Champ could meet in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival next month, although Martin Brassil revealed he will also consider the two-mile-one-furlong Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at the same fixture.
He added: "The entries closed today for the Dublin Racing Festival, so we've entered him up for there,"
"He's in the Irish Gold Cup and we've put him in the shorter race as well, just in case the ground came up heavy, then we might run in the shorter race with it being close to the (Cheltenham) Gold Cup."
On the decision not to run his Cheltenham Gold Cup contender in the Savills Chase, he explained: "It was a horrible evening there, I'd had a couple of runners in the Paddy Power Chase the day before and the ground had well opened up.
"We've never run him on it (testing ground) before, we said we had another option (Dublin Racing Festival) and we said we'd take it."
Galopin Des Champs is currently an even-money chance to retain his Gold Cup crown at the Prestbury Park venue in March with Paddy Power, while his two-time conqueror is next best in the market at 4/1 with the same firm.
