Adamantly Chosen
Adamantly Chosen has had a busy year because he had a full novice season and then we gave him a very small break because we thought he had a great chance in the Galway Hurdle. But then at Galway on summer ground it looked like he wanted two and a half miles. We sent him over fences and he’s made a fantastic start and he’ll go to the Drinmore and if he keeps improving he’ll carry on down that two-and-a-half-mile novice chase route. Possibly as the ground gets softer he might come back to two miles, but we’ll see what happens.

Allaho
Allaho is well over 17 hands but he’s very athletic. Last year we started off in the John Durkan but this year we might have a go at the King George so the option would be to start a bit earlier. If the ground was nice for the Clonmel Oil we might do that. There’s lots of talk about whether he should go for the Cheltenham Gold Cup but I haven’t had a chat with Cheveley Park – Mrs Thompson or Richard – and they have A Plus Tard for the Gold Cup, so I think this fellow should go for a Ryanair. To go back and win a third Ryanair would be a good plan to me, anyhow. We’ll see how things work out.

If he goes for the John Durkan he might miss Christmas and then go back to Thurles for the Kinloch Brae and then on to Cheltenham. It’s one or the other, but Kempton could be something to look forward to. [If he won the King George] people would say why not go for the Gold Cup? But he is by No Risk at All and the extra two furlongs in the Gold Cup up that hill just might stretch him. He’s got lots of class, this fellow, and the Gold Cup would take huge stamina so I’m not so sure. Maybe he’s developing more stamina as he’s getting older but I’d be happy if someone said you’re guaranteed another Ryanair Chase. His forte is galloping and jumping and it’s difficult to do that over three and a quarter miles, and I’d hate to break his heart doing it.

Allegorie de Vassy
Allegorie de Vassy has some great form beating Brandy Love at Fairyhouse, albeit when Brandy Love hung across the track, and she’s a lovely big mare. I sort of thought we could be going down the Mares’ Hurdle route. However, she has the size and scope to go chasing and she’ll probably start schooling shortly. If she goes well, why not? There’s every chance she could go chasing.

Appreciate It
Appreciate It is doing everything right and I’m looking forward to getting him over fences this season. We just hope we can keep him right and keep him sound. He’s a big horse so we’re looking forward to getting him going over fences.

Ashore Diamond
Ashroe Diamond is schooling well and could be a smart novice over two miles this season.

Authorized Art
Authorized Art has won three chases and is stepping up every time. He’ll be going for the Drinmore. We had this fellow entered in the Doncaster Sales last year but we said we’d go over fences first and he’s been fantastic and has kept on improving. He’s a nice type.

Blizzard of Oz
He’s a four-year-old by Arctic Cosmos who was second in a Listed bumper at Limerick and split two of ours in Impulsive Dancer and Mercurey. It was an eye-catching performance and we know exactly what the form is, unlike when buying one from a point-to-point. Having already been placed in a Listed bumper you’d like to think he could win a bumper no problem and maybe step up to a graded bumper.

Blue Lord
Blue Lord looks like he’ll be going down the Champion Chase route. He could probably step up in trip, but he’s plenty fast enough over a fence. He won the Irish Arkle, was placed in the Sporting Life Arkle at Cheltenham and then came back and won at Punchestown, so will step up now into open company. He’ll probably go to the Fortria, Poplar Square or Hilly Way to start the season and see where he takes us from there, maybe Leopardstown at Christmas, maybe the Dublin Racing Festival and back to Cheltenham.

Brandy Love
Brandy Love has a huge engine. She probably prefers going left-handed, but she won right-handed at Fairyhouse, beating the Cheltenham Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle winner after nearly running off the track. It’s something we worry about but it’s the way she is and Paul is getting more used to her and we’re getting more used to her as well. I imagine she’ll stay hurdling and aim for the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Bring On The Night
Bring On The Night’s Flat form at Ascot looks fantastic now after Coltrane’s exploits, so we’ll try to keep his mark ready for Ascot next year. Unfortunately he got an injury at Ascot or shortly afterwards so he’ll miss the first part of the season. Normally we would go chasing with the likes of him, but we want to have a Flat campaign, so I might just keep him over hurdles. However, Stratum won over fences before going on to win the Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot so it’s been done before.

Capodanno
He’s only six and I think he could be a Gold Cup horse at some stage. There’s a chance we might start him off in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury and work our way from there. Maybe head to Leopardstown at Christmas or maybe the King George if he ran fairly well before that. He’s a horse with a nice bit of potential and I think he could improve a lot at his age.

I think stepping up to three miles on good ground suited him and I think there’s huge improvement in him. We’ll have to have a word with connections and see which way they’d like to campaign him as they have a lot of other horses, so we’ll see what happens, but I think he’s a Grade 1 horse every day of the week.

Chacun Pour Soi
Chacun Pour Soi is back and in good form. I think I’m going to be more experimental with his trip this season. He’s such a good jumper which is why he’s been at two miles but I’ve no doubt he’ll be able to stay further so we could see him in a lot of different races to the ones he’s been running in so far.

Champ Kiely
Champ Kiely is a nice horse for Michael Masterson from the Pat Doyle academy. We brought him to Galway and he won very nicely over two miles and five. Then I thought let’s give him a crack at a good two-mile race down in Tipperary and he was a revelation back at two miles. It completely surprised me with the authority that he won by as I had pencilled him in as a two-and-a-half-mile horse. We’ll have a look at the Royal Bond and have the chance to make him a winter novice. Michael, like all owners, would love a horse going to Cheltenham with a live chance and if I can keep this fellow right and find his optimum trip he looks a nice prospect.

Dark Raven
Dark Raven is going to be a nice prospect going over hurdles. He met with a little setback early last season so we put him by for the campaign. He’s a nice jumping type, and I’d say a staying type over hurdles.

Dinoblue
Dinoblue jumps so well that she could go chasing. I’ll have to have a word with connections at Martinstown to see which direction they’d like to go. If she doesn’t go chasing I’d say she’s well entitled to go down the Mares’ Hurdle route if she brings her A-game to the track. She was just a little disappointing after winning well first-time last season.

Dr Eggman
Dr Eggman ran very well when third behind Icare Desbois and Lecky Watson in the George Mernagh Tattersalls bumper at Fairyhouse as I thought he was very unfurnished and the greenest of all the horses. For him to finish in the top three was a tremendous performance. Whether he will stay in the bumper division or go hurdling I’m not sure – he might be just as well staying in bumpers this season.

Dysart Dynamo
He was very sharp over his hurdles last season. He’ll go novice chasing as he looks more of a chaser than a hurdler and I’d imagine we’ll keep to the minimum trip.

Echoes In Rain
Echoes In Rain had a fantastic Flat season and was just shaded out of the Irish Cesarewitch. We’ll have another go at the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and plot a route to that target.

El Fabiolo
El Fabiolo looks like one of the best potential novice chasers we have. He was second to Jonbon at Aintree, which was a fantastic run on only his second start over hurdles for us. He looks every inch a chaser and with the sort of speed and ability he showed over hurdles he has to be a huge contender for the Sporting Life Arkle.

Elimay
Elimay is back and is big as a house. She has done hugely well during the summer, but she is a mare that carries a lot of condition. She’s good and strong and well in herself, she’ll probably take the same route as last season.

Energumene
He had a really good season last time and will probably start in the Hilly Way. I’m not sure I want to go to the Tingle Creek with him but we’ll leave the door open for the time being. After Christmas then we have the choice of going to Ascot for the Clarence House to take on Shishkin again.

He could do that and go on to Cheltenham, but plans are fluid and I just hope all these horses stay sound. I think we probably got our tactics right the last time even though Shishkin obviously wasn’t at his best, you could see that by the time he jumped the second fence. If he makes it back we should have some great clashes.

Facile Vega
I was really taken with his win at Cheltenham, coming from the position he did at the back of the field with all that muck and mud flying. I didn’t think any horse would come through that. When Patrick moved on him he took into a different gear and that’s what he shows at home. He has a huge amount of ability. We’ll go novice hurdling and hopefully he’s good enough for the Supreme or Ballymore, either one would do me. He probably looked more of a stayer the way he won his bumper, but he has plenty of class so we’ll see how he jumps. His dam Quevega went back to Cheltenham six times and won every time and was easy enough to get ready. He’s one we’re really looking forward to. I don’t know where I’m going to start him off – we’ll wait for ground, the right opportunity.

He doesn’t have to go to a Leopardstown or Punchestown to start off, we’ve often gone down the country with our nice horses to get them going at the right time. He’s a big horse but moves well, carries himself well, so we just want to keep him sound. He got a bit jarred the first time I worked him the year before he won his bumper so we had to put him by, so we’re very careful with him. David Porter rides him all the time and knows him well and his main instruction at the start of the season for me was don’t have him working too hard, so he tells me if he thinks we’re doing too much. Quevega had a lovely temperament in the stable and he does too, he also has a lovely temperament out on the track. He’s a very kind individual and does everything he’s asked and is always looking to do more.

Ferny Hollow
He’s a horse with huge potential but he’s just had a couple of niggles the last few seasons. We haven’t seen the best of him, I hope. I’m going to train him very lightly and try to get him to the racetrack. Hopefully the ability that he has will shine through.

We have a few races to look at, the Fortria, the Poplar Square or the Hilly Way and I’d imagine he’d start in one of those. The Poplar Square at Naas looks the obvious choice and if he runs well there we’ll go the two-mile route the whole way up to the Champion Chase and that would be the main objective.

Flame Bearer
Flame Bearer looks a real novice chasing type – a Sporting Life Arkle type. Coming from Pat Doyle’s I imagine he’s going to be a hell of a jumper over a fence. If he is, maybe he could be a front-running two-miler. He’s a horse I think wants to get on with the job and the type of horse who will jump out and be at the front end of a race. He’s an exciting prospect going novice chasing for us this season and I think he could improve hugely for going over fences.

Franco de Port
It’s funny how he redeemed himself. We were going to sell him but then we brought him to France for the Grand Steeplechase de Paris and Danny [Mullins] gave him a great ride and he finished third. Then we revised plans and said maybe we should try a French programme with him.

He had a nice race at Gowran getting ready for a race at Auteuil on the 13th of November called the Prix La Haye Jousselin. That’s about three miles and five furlongs and with prize-money down to seventh or eighth. This is in preparation to have another crack at the Grand Steep next May. It’s something different but we’re going to try it anyhow.

Gaelic Warrior
Gaelic Warrior is probably going to be one of the best maidens going into novice hurdles this season. Looking at his performance in the Boodles when he was second after jumping to the right, which didn’t help him, he looks like a horse who could be bound for the staying division. I’d say two and a half miles plus over hurdles so I’m looking at the Ballymore or Albert Bartlett at the moment. He got great experience from last season and anyone would be happy to have a maiden like him going novice hurdling this season.

Gaillard du Mesnil
Gaillard du Mesnil has a big handicap written all over him. If I can get a run into him he could go for the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, or maybe something like the Cork National. He’s still a maiden so I’m wondering if he should get an entry in the Drinmore. I’d prefer to run him in a longer race as the Drinmore can be hard on horses early in the season.

Galopin des Champs
The Clonmel Oil is a possibility for him but might just come a bit soon, the John Durkan is the 11th of December, which seems late but maybe we’ll aim him there. If he did the Clonmel Oil he might go to Leopardstown at Christmas but if the ground was too fast, which it has been over the last few years, we might go down the Al Boum Photo route to Tramore for the Savills Chase and maybe then go to Cheltenham.

I’m trying to find a race for him around the 1st of December time. I think there’s a race at Sandown for him, which we’ll look at but I’m just a bit afraid of the ground down the back at Sandown which is always a bit livelier than I’d like. We’ve run a few horses there over the last few years and they’ve been fine but I’ve certainly had my heart in my mouth as they go so fast down the back. We’ll see. He’s in great form, but a little behind the others. I’d love to get him out in the Clonmel Oil if I could but it will probably come too soon.

At Cheltenham I don’t think the opposition was right on the day. It looked visually to be super [until falling at the last] but it might have looked better than it was. Still, we have an exciting prospect and it’s all to play for this year. He looks a real Gold Cup type. We all think he’s going to be better going up in trip over three miles. He’d have to be a huge contender for the Gold Cup.

Gentleman de Mee
Gentleman de Mee likes to get on with the job – he does that at home and does that on the racetrack. He might start off in the Tingle Creek. He’s very forward at the moment and we’re very happy with him. He’ll go down the two-mile route all season.

Grangeclare West
Grangeclare West is back and looks every inch a chaser. He’s six rising seven so we should be going chasing, but I feel you leave a lot behind if you don’t take your novice hurdle season so that’s where he’s probably going to go.

Hunters Yarn
Hunters Yarn is a fine, big horse and I’d imagine staying novice hurdles would be his thing.

Icare Desbois
Icare Desbois won the George Mernagh Tattersalls bumper at Fairyhouse. He looks a nice prospect. He won at Fairyhouse off not quite enough preparation so we were pleasantly surprised that he was able to do that with natural ability. He’ll go novice hurdling and I’m hoping, looking at his performance at Fairyhouse, that he could be sharp enough to go in the two-mile division.

Il Etait Temps
Il Etait Temps looks a really nice type for novice hurdles this season. We ran him in a few graded races last season and he was very keen, but he picked up invaluable experience which should help him. He’s going to have to settle better but he looks a real prospect to be a graded horse this year.

Impulsive Dancer
Impulsive Dancer is by Dragon Pulse and looks like a Flat horse. He’s just 16 hands and very strong – he looks like a six-or-seven-furlong horse – but he loves soft ground and stays. He’s here, schooling well, and he’ll probably start off when there’s a good dig in the ground.

James du Berlais
James du Berlais had a little setback last season but he’s back and doing well. We know he jumps very well and he is another horse who could be anything over fences, which is what he was bought for. He’s a really exciting prospect over fences. I think he jumps well enough to go down the Sporting Life Arkle route, but he has plenty of stamina in his pedigree and he could be one for the Turners. He has the ability to be anything. He settles well and has plenty of stamina in the pedigree so we’ll let him decide over the course of the season.

Kilcruit
I want to go chasing with Kilcruit and I’ve been very impressed with how he’s been on the gallops this season. I was saying to Rachel Robins who rides him everyday that he looks way better than I’ve ever seen before, training way better, and she concurred. She said he’s giving her as good a feel as he ever has. If all that’s right we might see the horse we saw as a bumper horse.

Klassical Dream
We didn’t get him out early last season – he must have had a little niggle – and I’m always tempted to go novice chasing with him, but sometimes he has little issues with his back and we’ve taken the view, at this point anyhow, that it’s easier to keep him sound over hurdles. He loves a trip, three miles. I’d love to get him out before Christmas. We’ll probably end up going back to Leopardstown at Christmas and then Cheltenham.

We ran him at Gowran last year and that was a bit of a spur of the moment thing which I blame myself for, getting sucked into what we thought would be an easy race and not doing enough with him after Christmas. The whole thing just didn’t work out. Lesson learned for this year. The goal would be to get back to the Stayers’ Hurdle, then Punchestown and maybe France again. He finished second in the French Champion Hurdle last season and that was a good payday.

Lecky Watson
He was possibly unlucky when second to Icare Desbois in the George Mernagh Tattersalls bumper at Fairyhouse as he got into a little bit of trouble coming up the straight when seemingly having plenty left, and by the time he got out the race was over. He’s another who is going to make a nice novice hurdler.

Lisnagar Fortune
Lisnagar Fortune is a lovely horse who won well at Punchestown. He has a lovely pedigree, being a half-brother to Lisnagar Oscar who won a Stayers’ Hurdle, and he would look a candidate for staying novice hurdles. He’s a real chasing type.

Lot of Joy
Lot Of Joy ran a cracker in the Irish Cesarewitch – I thought she had it won two down but maybe she hit the front a bit soon. She also came from a very wide draw and she didn’t get the bounce of the ball. She’s been very good in her schooling and I’m very happy to start her off over hurdles. She’s sharp enough jumping and after winning the Swedish St Leger and finishing third in the Irish Cesarewitch she has plenty of stamina, but she’s not a big, strong national hunt mare – she’s more like a Flat mare – so I think nicer winter ground will suit.

Madmansgame
Madmansgame has got chaser written all over him. He’s a horse who could go novice chasing this year, which would be unusual, but if he does go hurdling it would probably be in the staying division.

Mercurey
Mercurey is a fine horse, he looks like a chaser down the line, but at the moment he jumps hurdles well. I think he probably wants a good cut in the ground to be at his best. He’s matured a lot since last year. He looked very unfurnished down at Limerick but he’s put a lot of condition and muscle on so he’s one I’m looking forward to.

Minella Cocooner
Minella Cocooner will be going over fences. He shows plenty more at home [than The Nice Guy] but sometimes can be a bit keen on the racetrack, which means he will probably come back in trip. He could maybe go the two-and-a-half-mile route, but he’s another very good jumper so we’re looking forward to him and The Nice Guy going novice chasing.

Monkfish
Monkfish is back in training but I’m not going to press any buttons. If I can get him out before the end of the season I can’t see myself aiming him for Cheltenham. If by any chance he comes forward I’d love to get a run into him at Punchestown towards the end of the season or something like that. He just hasn’t recovered in the way I would have expected him to recover. At the moment he’s fine but I don’t want to go too fast and be out again, so I’m just going to take it very, very steady. I wouldn’t be putting any ante-post bets on for Cheltenham.

Seabank Bistro
Seabank Bistro is a real chasing type with a nice chasing pedigree. He’ll go hurdling this season and is possibly an Albert Bartlett type.

Sir Gerhard
He’s been very good and we’re very pleased with him, he’s coming along nicely now. We had Dysart Dynamo for the Supreme so we said we’d go for the two-and-a-half mile race with him. I thought he was fast enough for the two-mile race but we just divided up our horses and it worked out for him. He disappointed back at Punchestown but he’d disappointed previously at Punchestown after Cheltenham and it might not be the ideal thing to do with him. I think he’s good enough to go down the Champion Hurdle route but I’d prefer to go novice chasing. I’d like to discuss it with Mrs Thompson and everyone at Cheveley Park first, but I’d be heading towards the novice chase route. I don’t know about the quality of the point-to-point he won, but it shows he’s well able to jump fences. He had one or two different runs over hurdles jumping-wise, and I’m a little worried about that, but who knows, maybe he’s going to be a better chaser than hurdler?

Sharjah
Sharjah had a little setback but is back in training again. He’ll probably start off in the Morgiana and will be aimed at Leopardstown at Christmas to do what some of the best hurdlers didn’t do and win that race five times. He loves the Christmas track at Leopardstown but has been disappointing at the Dublin Racing Festival. Hopefully he’ll go to Cheltenham and be a contender for the Champion Hurdle and it would be great if he could reach the first three.

State Man
I think he could be good enough to have a go at the Champion Hurdle, to go down that route. However, he could be a fantastic novice chaser. I haven’t really got around to thinking about it, but he’s good enough to do either. I’m leaning towards hurdling with him at the moment, but we’ll see, we might give him a few pops over fences. I’ll probably start doing a bit of jumping next week and see how he takes to it. My gut feeling is he’ll probably stay over hurdles but I want to chat to Paul Townend about it, bring him in on the decision-making, so it’s still up in the air.

Stattler
Stattler won the National Hunt Chase and it has been a great indicator of good horses over the years – over the last few years Grand National and Gold Cup horses have come out of it. He could be a National horse. I’ll aim for the top with him, start him off like he could be a Gold Cup horse but certainly a trip will be no trouble to him and jumping will be no trouble to him, so we’ll be aiming him at those top staying chases.

The Nice Guy (*The Nice Guy has been ruled out for the season following publication)
The Nice Guy has been a revelation for us. He keeps his best work for the racetrack. We were delighted when he won his bumper and surprised when he won his winners’ bumper. We said we’d have a go over hurdles, even though it was late in the season, and he won, then went to Cheltenham and won again and then won at Punchestown. He has a lovely pedigree but is more of a hurdler on looks. But he’ll go novice chasing rather than the staying hurdling route and can go back there if he doesn’t make it over fences. He looks like a stayer, so will be in the staying division in novice chases. What we’ve seen of him jumping he jumps very well and naturally, so I don’t think he’ll have any problems over fences.

Tornado Flyer
Tornado Flyer ran a cracker in the John Durkan last year and then won the King George under a superb ride from Danny [Mullins]. I’d say something similar would be the plan this year, having another crack at the King George before going to Cheltenham and Punchestown. He seems to run best early in the season and then tapers off a bit, but he’s a horse who has been very slow to mature so we’ll see if we can eke out a bit more and get his best form later in the season.

Vauban
He’s only four turning five and looks a Champion Hurdle prospect. The obvious place to start off is in the Fishery Lane at Naas which is a four-year-old hurdle and in which he would carry a penalty. But I’m going to give him an entry in the Morgiana and we’ll see how he works between now and then. Maybe he’d be just as well going to the Morgiana and taking on the big boys. He’s stepping out of novice company now and it’s tough for four-year-olds turning five to take on those Champion Hurdle horses but he’s going to have to do it at some stage, so we’ll see how he progresses, but everything is going well at home.

All being well he’ll line up at Cheltenham in March for the Champion Hurdle. Sometimes I wonder if they miss that then go to Aintree for the two and a half mile hurdle that seems to be better for five-year-olds, I don’t know why but that seems to work better than the Champion Hurdle, but that’s all in the future. I think he’s as good a juvenile as I’ve seen for a while but it’s a big step up and we’ll see. I think he’d have no bother staying [two and a half miles]- it’s not where I want to go but he’d have no bother. He’s done well over the summer and I’ve no negatives at all about him.

Whatdeawant
Whatdeawant was third in the Ballymore and looks like a staying novice chaser this season. Hopefully he’ll improve over fences.

A selection of pointers and recruits from France…

Chapeau de Soleil
He came here with a nice reputation from Colin Bowe’s after winning his point and has been doing everything nicely. He’s only four so I’d imagine he will go down the bumper route.

Fancy Girl
Fancy Girl is a flashy chestnut filly with a white face and she’s by Champs Elysees. We got her from Cormac Doyle after she won her point-to-point well and we’re hoping she could be one of our leading mares in the bumper division this season. She’s an eye-catching specimen.

Impaire et Passe
Impaire et Passe is a really nice individual who jumps very well and he’ll go novice hurdling. He won a Flat race at just over a mile and a half on soft ground in France and he looks like a really nice prospect for novice hurdling. I’m not sure what his trip is yet.

Lossiemouth
Lossiemouth is a nice filly we got from France. She showed plenty when winning on her first start around Auteuil on very soft ground, so she looks to be a contender for the top juvenile hurdles this season. She’s done everything right at home.

Quais de Paris
Quais de Paris was third over hurdles at Compiegne on his first run. He’s by Masked Marvel and is a beautiful looking, big horse. He’s shaped like a hurdler but I think he possibly could be a top chaser in time. He’ll go hurdling this season and being by Masked Marvel you’d think he wants a trip, but he looks very sharp at home on the gallops and we’ll just let him tell us later on in the season which way to go. I think he could do anything and is a very nice individual to be looking forward to over hurdles this season.

Soir De Garde
He’s an unraced half-brother to State Man and we bought him out of France last year. He’s schooling well and galloping well and I’m hoping he’ll be a really nice prospect for Mrs Donnelly to start off in bumpers this season.

Spanish Harlem
We bought him at the sales in France after winning first time up at Auteuil. We brought him home and gave him a good break and I think he’s matured hugely. He’ll probably stay novice hurdling this season. He’s by Spanish Moon out of a Doctor Dino mare, so there’s nice bit of stamina on the sire’s side and a bit of speed on the dam’s side, he jumps very well, goes on soft ground, has experience and is related to a nice horse we had called Roi des Francs. He’s a really nice jumping type, probably more of a chaser than hurdler.