Five Meath-trained Christmas winners to follow
Tom Gannon picks out five horses that have won over the last couple of days to keep in your notebook for the racing year ahead
There was fantastic success for Meath-based horses over the Christmas period and there were 14 Meath-trained winners between the 26th and the 29th of December most of which came at Leopardstown. Gordon Elliott had a fantastic few days and he finished the week with three Grade One's. Croke Park and Romeo Coolio scored in Grade One company on the 26th and the 27th before that marvellous performance from Betterdaysahead on Sunday in the Neville Hotel's hurdle.
Outside of the three Grade One winners, there were a few other performances from Royal horses that caught the eye. Here are five Meath-trained Christmas winners to add to your notebook for the big festivals for 2025.
Hello Neighbour (Trained by Gavin Cromwell)
There was plenty of word floating around for this three-year-old prior to the Grade Two juvenile hurdle on St Stephen's Day. Keith Donoghue was at his lightest weight for this and it paid off as Hello Neighbour got the business done by a short head. Gavin Cromwell has guaranteed that this horse will be back for the DRF and he will surely have a great opportunity to score at the South Dublin track once more. Hello Neighbour is currently a 7/1 shot for the Triumph hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
Bioluminescence (Trained by Gavin Cromwell)
Exactly 24 hours after Hello Neighbour's victory, Cromwell had further Grade Two success this time with Bioluminescence in the Dawn Runs Mare's Novice chase at Limerick. It was the first time since the introduction of the contest in 2021 that Willie Mullins did not train the winner of the race. The JP McManus-owned six-year-old saw was backed into odds on and duly delivered seeing off some talented opposition in the process. Cromwell has confirmed that he will be stepping her up in distance next time out so this mare, in time, could very well pick up a a top quality chase over 3 mile plus.
Perceval Legallois (Trained by Gavin Cromwell)
Less than two hours after Bioluminesence scored at Limerick, Cromwell and JP teamed up once more, this time with Perceval Legallois in the Paddy Power Chase. The seven-year-old was a very impressive seven-length winner of the valuable handicap that has produced some fantastic winners over the years. Good ground seems to be the key for this son of Ballingarry, and under the right conditions, he could be one to have on-side in some of the more valuable handicap chases in the spring.
Dee Capo (Trained by Gordon Elliott)
One of the biggest indicators of a superstar chaser in recent years has been the race that Dee Capo won on Saturday. In recent times this race has been won by Galopin Des Champs, Gentlemansgame and Fact to file. This means the last three horses to win this race made up the first three home in Friday's feature, the Savills Chase. So the omens are very good for Dee Capo. This is definitely a horse that's worth having a punt on for Cheltenham in March in whatever race Elliott decides is the best fit for him.
The Enabler ( Trained by Gordon Elliott)
Elliott commenced a wonderful final day at the Leopardstown festival with a win with The Enabler and again, the key to how good the horse may be lies in the previous winners of this race. Ballyburn, Good Land and Journey With Me were all good winners of this race in recent times and have done very well for themselves since. Ballyburn especially, barring this week's hiccup, has been widely regarded as a phenomenal horse. This lad may not have the same hype around him but he could be very very good. Gordon has confirmed that the long-term plan with him is to turn him into a chaser so he could be lining him up for one of the quality novices' chases here in 12 months' time. Something like the race that Dee Capo won 24 hours earlier would surely be a reasonable target.