Titans set to collide at the Dublin Racing Festival
Galopin des Champs and Paul Townend will go in search of a fourth straight Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival on Saturday. Photo: INPHO
The biggest weekend in the Irish racing calendar is only days away, and as always, the Dublin Racing Festival, or simply the DRF, is shaping up to be yet another festival for the ages.
Eight Grade 1s over two days, where Gold Cup winners clash, champion hurdle contenders put their credentials on the line, as well as the nearly horses looking to become the here and now horse, are set to put on the show of shows for a packed out Leopardstown.
With that said, let’s look ahead to some of the big clashes that the 2026 Dublin Racing Festival has to offer.
The “I was there” moment happened at the 2025 Dublin Racing Festival when Galopin Des Champ blew the roof off the Leopardstown stands when winning the Irish Gold Cup for the third time in a row. But coming into this year's renewal, some are questioning his credentials after a third-place finish on his comeback run in the Grade 1 Savills Chase at Christmas over course and distance. But many are quick to forget that the two-time Gold Cup winner always comes on considerably for his first run of the season.
He looks set to face off with Iknowthewayurthinkin, who got the better of Galopin Des Champs in last season's Gold Cup. But the reigning Gold Cup winner has been subject to a lot of scrutiny after two diabolical runs this season, which saw him finish a combined 94 lengths off the winner.
With that said, all eyes will be on Galopin Des Champs as he looks to create history by becoming the only horse to win four Irish Gold Cups in a row, which will separate him from Jodami and Florida Perl (four wins over all), who, like Galopin Des Champs, won three Irish Gold Cups in a row.
The question on everyone's lips is where Romeo Coolio will line up at the Dublin Racing Festival. The two-time Grade 1-winning novice chaser has two options this weekend. Option one would see him square off with the returning Kopek Des Bordes over 2m1f in the Grade 1 Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase on Saturday. Option two would see him step back up in distance to 2m5f, taking on the hype of Final Demand in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Novice Chase on Sunday.
The early signs are that Romeo Coolio will line up in the Grade 1 Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase on Saturday, over 2m1f, the distance that saw him grind down Irish Panter in the Grade 1 Racing Post Novice Chase at Christmas. Since then, it has been touted from connection that the 2m1f distance is as short a trip as Romeo Coolio wants. But with plenty of rain about, and with Kopek Des Bordes having his first run since an early-season setback, the Racing Post Novice Chase looks to be the option that Gordon Elliot is leaning towards.
Whichever race Gordon Elliott decides to send his novice chasing superstar, we are sure to see a race that will be talked about for weeks leading up to the Cheltenham Festival.
Since the unfortunate injury sustained by Sir Gino over the weekend, the winning and losing of the Champion Hurdle has been firmly put at the feet of Lossiemouth. But before Willie Mullins and co can look ahead to the Cheltenham Festival, they have to deal with Gordon Elliott's superstar mare, Brighterdaysahead.
Willie Mullins’s superstar mare got the better of Brighterdaysahead when they clashed over course and distance in the Grade 1 December Hurdle. That race saw Brighterdaysahead make her seasonal return, where Lossiemouth was having her second start of the season, which resulted in the Willie Mullins mare getting the better of Brighterdaysahead by just one length. Now with that run under her belt, two superstar mares look set to put on a show in the Irish Champion Hurdle.
No matter the result, we are in for a treat with these two generational mares locking horns one more time.
The former Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner, and current Champion Chaser, Marine Nationale has started to take a worrying drift in the betting for the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Dublin Chase on Sunday. It’s not clear whether that is merely down to ground conditions deteriorating due to the deluge of rain we have had over the past two weeks, or something more serious. No matter which one it turns out to be, a drift is near reassuring to see if you are a fan of the champion chaser.
The champion chaser looks set to go head-to-head with Leopardstown specialist, and his old foe and defending Ladbrokes Dublin Chase winner, Solness. The Joseph O’Brien three-time Grade 1 winning chaser has only ever been beaten once at Leopardstown in four runs, and comes in here on the back of a gutsy front-running win over Marine Nationale in the Grade 1 Paddy's Rewards Club Chase at Christmas.
Marine National made a crucial mistake on the first fence down the back straight when they met at Christmas, and many are expecting the Barry Connell champion chaser to turn the form around with that run under his belt. However, that was also Solness's first run of the season, and there is every chance that he will come forward fitness-wise for that outing. And if that is the case, it is not a given that Marine Nationale will finish ahead of the defending champion.
We must also not forget Majborough. Even though Majborough has yet to convince anyone that he is a natural chaser, he still deserves massive respect because, once it all clicks, there are very few horses in training with his raw ability.
Here’s to the greatest weekend in horse racing.
