With Envoi Allen, Samcro and Yorkhill providing point-to-point graduates with success in the Grade 1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle in three of the last five years, hopes will be high of continuing that strike rate with at this year’s Festival as joint-favourites Bob Olinger and Bravemansgame are among 120 entries for the race.
Turtulla four-year-old winner Bob Olinger has only once met with defeat in his five start career when chasing home the now sidelined Ferny Hollow at Gowran on his hurdling bow, and since then has gone on to record Grade 1 success when landing the rescheduled Lawlor’s of Naas Novices’ Hurdle at Naas earlier this month.
That success leaves him at the top of the market for the intermediate distance novice hurdle at the Festival alongside another Grade 1 winning point-to-point export in Gentlemansgame.
An eight-length winner of his four-year-old maiden at Lingstown in 2019 for Donnchadh Doyle, since joining Paul Nicholls he has run up a string of successes culminating in victory in the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle in December.
That success at Newbury led to Nicholls to draw comparisons with another of his top recruits from the Irish point-to-point fields, Denman, who had also landed the Challow during his novice hurdle season.
“He’s a big scopey horse, now a Grade 1 winner and to be honest he’s probably got more boot than Denman,” said Nicholls after that success.
“At the same stages of their careers, this one is really heading that way and he’ll be a lovely chaser too.
“I’m not saying he’s Denman yet, but he’s gone down the same route and we’d like to think that’s the kind of horse he’ll turn out to be. And that’s saying something.
“He’ll definitely be going to Cheltenham now, whether we squeeze one run into him beforehand we’ll see.”
In all a total of 43 horses who began their careers point-to-pointing in Ireland feature in the Ballymore entry with Gallyhill likely the pick of those now based in Britain.
One of the top-priced horses in the sales ring last season having been bought for £450,000 after winning his point-to-point at Kirkistown for Jamie Sloan, the Getaway gelding followed that up by remaining unbeaten on his first start for Nicky Henderson at Newbury last week.
Writing in his blog following the success, Henderson said: “He would have definitely needed it and blew up going into the last, plus the trip was definitely too short, but I liked the way he got a second wind and galloped strongly to the line.
“I was hoping to run him at Cheltenham in December, but a few things weren’t right and he scoped dirty. So, we gave him a bit of time and he came back to win nicely in a race where the first two pulled well clear.
“He could be very high class and looks an extremely exciting prospect for [owner] Mike Grech.”
