Mystical Power moved to Supreme Novices’ Hurdle favouritism with a dominant display in the SkyBet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

The Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old is impeccably bred as a son of Galileo out of the brilliant Champion Hurdle-winning mare Annie Power and could hardly have made a better start to his career for the powerhouse ownership trio of JP McManus, John Magnier and Rich Ricci.

Following a winning debut debut in a Ballinrobe bumper in May, Mystical Power made a successful switch to hurdling at Galway two months later – and having sidestepped the rearranged Lawlor’s of Naas Novice Hurdle on Friday, he was sent off at 5-4 for his comeback in a Grade Two contest his trainer has previously won with the likes of Vautour (2014), Douvan (2015), Min (2015) and Impaire Et Passe (2023).

Mark Walsh – looking to complete a big-race double in the McManus colours following Grade Three success aboard Spillane’s Tower in the previous contest on the card – settled his mount at the rear of the four-runner field for much of the two-mile journey while his stablemate Lombron adopted a pacesetting role.

There was the odd moment of worry for Mystical Power’s supporters, with his rider having to get lower in the saddle on the home turn, but the further he went the better he looked and he fairly rocketed clear in the straight to score by seven lengths from Jigoro.

Mullins’ assistant David Casey said: “I was very impressed with him, he wouldn’t show that at home. He seems to save his best for the track, which is a great trait to have.

“We were a little bit worried about the ground today as he’s coming from a summer campaign. We were a little worried if he would handle that heavy ground, but it looks like he went through it very well.

“We gave him a break after he had his couple of runs in the summer and brought him back to see if he would handle a winter campaign.

“Mark rode him a couple of weeks ago and thought he had improved hugely from when he had rode him earlier in the year. He showed that today.”

Sky Bet make the winner their 9-2 favourite for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, just ahead of fellow McManus-owned ace Jeriko Du Reponet – trained by Nicky Henderson – at 5-1.

“At the moment you probably wouldn’t go any further than two miles until you have to. Mark said he rides a lot quicker on the track than he does at home,” Casey added.

“I thought he showed a fair turn of foot there. I know the camp have the second-favourite for the Supreme as well so they might want to split them up, but at the moment until you have to you wouldn’t go further, I think.”

Frank Berry, McManus’ racing manager, said: “That was grand. Mark said they didn’t go mad early on, but he quickened up well.

“Hopefully he’ll have learned a little bit jumping wise today and you could only be very pleased with him.

“We didn’t know coming here how he was going to cope with the ground, but he coped with it quite well.

“He’s keen anyway and the small field suited to get him settled.”

When asked if he could run again before Cheltenham, Berry added: “The experience part of it would do him good but we’ll leave that up to Willie.”

Spillane’s Tower inflicted a shock defeat on red-hot favourite Blood Destiny in the Betting Better With SkyBet Novice Chase at Punchestown.

The Grade Three contest has an illustrious roll of honour in recent years, with Carefully Selected, Envoi Allen, Bob Olinger and Impervious the last four winners, and the Willie Mullins-trained Blood Destiny was a 2-5 shot to add his name to the list following an impressive fencing debut at Naas.

Just as he did a month ago, Blood Destiny set out to make every yard of the running in the hands of Paul Townend, and for much of the two-and-a-half-mile contest he appeared in complete control.

However, it became clear on the run to the final fence he had a real race on his hands as Mark Walsh conjured a late charge from Spillane’s Tower (7-1), who was bidding for back-to-back course wins for trainer Jimmy Mangan and owner JP McManus.

Blood Destiny was still in the lead jumping the final fence, but he was unable to resist Spillane’s Tower’s finishing kick, with two lengths separating the pair at the line.

The winning owner’s racing manager, Frank Berry, said: “He jumped well, they went a good gallop and he stayed well. You could only be pleased with him.

“I’d say the step up in trip was a big help to him. Mark said he was a bit flat out early on but he got home well.

“We’ve no plans, we’ll see where he goes and where he slots in. It’s nice to see Jimmy with a nice horse, all his runs have been good and he’s improving all the time. It was a nice performance.”

Connections are confident a patient approach will see Energumene return at his best next season.

Willie Mullins’ dual Champion Chase hero was imperious when defending his two-mile crown at the Cheltenham Festival last March, but has been denied the opportunity to bid for a hat-trick having suffered an injury which has ruled him out of the current campaign.

Owned by Brighton & Hove Albion chief Tony Bloom, Energumene is unlikely to be seen on track again until the 2024-25 season, as the Closutton team seek to give their high-class operator as much time as possible to recover from his setback, something seen as key to Energumene returning in the form of old.

“He’s recovering well,” said Bloom’s racing manager, Sean Graham.

“It was an injury that needed a little bit of time and he’s doing well and is recovering. The signs are good, but you never can tell so we will have to wait and see. The vets are very happy with him so fingers crossed.

“It was a case of if we can’t go to Cheltenham then we give him the whole of the season off and give him plenty of time to recover for next year.

“The way we are talking at the minute we will be giving him as plenty of time to recover as we possibly can. It’s not a career-threatening injury and it is just a case of us being patient. Tony is very patient and he will give him as much time as the horse needs.”

Meanwhile, the exciting Bunting will attempt to hit the bullseye at the Dublin Racing Festival next month where he could secure his ticket to the Cheltenham Festival.

An impressive winner when trained in France, he doubled up when making a blistering start to life in the care of Mullins at Limerick, producing a taking display to score by an ever-widening eight lengths.

That saw the Bloom-owned juvenile handed quotes as short as 7-1 for the Triumph Hurdle in March, but with both victories coming in testing conditions, connections are keen to see if he can repeat his exploits so far on a sounder surface.

“He won his first ever race in France and we bought him after that, so his run at Limerick was only his second ever time on the track and he’s open to loads of improvement,” said Graham.

“He handles soft ground very well because it was very soft when he won in France and very soft when he won his maiden hurdle at Limerick, so we just wonder how effective he will be if the ground gets a lot quicker.

“We don’t know and we’re just hoping he turns out he is as good as you hope he is going to be.”

Bunting will now head to Leopardstown’s Grade One McCann FitzGerald Spring Juvenile Hurdle on February 3 and a contest his handler has won the past two years with high-class pair Gala Marceau and Vauban.

That will be the perfect opportunity for connections to check out Bunting’s Triumph Hurdle credentials and a contest where he could meet well-regarded stablemates Storm Heart and Salvator Mundi as well as ante-post Triumph favourite Burdett Road, who could be sent on an enterprising raiding mission to the Irish capital by handler James Owen.

Graham added: “The Dublin Racing Festival is his next target, he’s entered in the juvenile hurdle on the 3rd and we wait and see. That will tell us whether we should be going to the Triumph Hurdle or not.

“He’s a horse for the future and he’s only had two races. Expecting him to go and win a Grade One on his third-ever race on the track is a big expectation, but we will see what happens.”

Panda Boy could bid to give trainer Martin Brassil a second Randox Grand National victory in the spring following a fine run in defeat at Leopardstown last month.

Having finished a close-up third in the lucrative Paddy Power Chase last season, the eight-year-old picked up the silver medal this time around behind the Willie Mullins-trained Meetingofthewaters, who is himself in National contention.

Panda Boy was not beaten far when fifth in the Irish Grand National last year and Brassil, who won the 2006 Grand National with Numbersixvalverde, is this year eyeing a trip to Merseyside.

He said: “I’m going to enter him for Aintree anyway and he might have a run in the three-mile handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.”

Brassil enjoyed two winners over the festive period, with Goldinthemountains landing a Leopardstown bumper and Built By Ballymore opening his account over hurdles with a dominant display at Limerick.

The trainer views Goldinthemountains as an exciting prospect for the future, but the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival is not on his agenda.

“He’s a nice horse, a lovely horse for the future. We’ll keep in bumpers for this season and he can go hurdling next season,” the trainer added.

“He wouldn’t be going to Cheltenham anyway. The Dublin Racing Festival might be a possibility, but I haven’t spoken to the owners about it yet. Punchestown in the spring would be a likely target.”

Of Built By Ballymore, he said: “He won well and he’d be more of a staying type for the future. He’s a nice horse to have.”

No horse had a better record in the Clarence House Chase than Un De Sceaux, with Willie Mullins’ warrior winning the Ascot Grade One three times.

Known as a tearaway in his early days, he was eventually tamed by Ruby Walsh and, upon his retirement, then ridden just as masterfully by Paul Townend.

He arrived from France having won two AQPS bumpers in 2012 by an aggregate of 27 lengths and quickly became a fan favourite due to his front-running exploits.

By the time he retired due to injury in 2020, he had won 23 of his 34 races under rules, 10 at Grade One level – and he is now happily living his best life back in France, with plenty of zest still on display.

He was owned by the late Edward O’Connell, whose son Colm said: “We’re in contact quite a bit with the family who have him.

“He’s put on a lot of weight, like everyone who retires! But he’s in great condition – he’s got some constitution, there’s never anything wrong with him, he’s never sick and he’s a zero-maintenance type of a horse, he’s incredible.

“The last I heard, they had a filly that was in the field with him and she was quite headstrong as well. I think Un De Sceaux was trying to teach her his ways, as they were literally bolting around the field together, so when people ask has he calmed down, the answer is no!

“I said to myself ‘if he’s teaching her how to race, she could be very interesting in a couple of years’. He has his own routine and no matter who goes and sees him, he’s still wild.

“It’s a good retirement for him. Racing needs stories like his, there’s enough bad news in racing but for 99.9 per cent of the time, this is what happens when racing is over, and rightly so.

“For him to go back to where he was born and grew up, it’s a fairytale. My family have been over to see him and they absolutely love him over in France, I think they like the fact that they’ve got him back.”

While the growing trend these days seems to be for the biggest names in National Hunt racing to have as easy a time as possible before the spring festivals, that could never be levelled at Un De Sceaux.

So much so that O’Connell believes he could have added to his two Cheltenham wins in the Arkle and Ryanair had he not regularly taken in the Clarence House en route – but he would not have had it any other way.

“We loved our visits to Ascot – and to Sandown and Cheltenham as well, but especially Ascot, because it just seemed to suit him there,” said O’Connell.

“Ironically, though, his win in the Clarence House that impressed me most was 2017, when it was run at Cheltenham because of frost.

“That was because he travelled over to Ascot on the Thursday from Willie’s, he left Saturday night, arrived back Sunday morning and left for Cheltenham the following Wednesday; he ran, won, and then came home. If you’d done that yourself, you’d think it was a pain.

“I went to Cheltenham that day but I thought it would be very hard to win, given all his travelling, but it didn’t knock him a bit and he beat Alan King’s horse Uxizandre by five lengths.

“What I thought though, the two years he won the Clarence House at Ascot (20016 and 2018), he then got beaten at Cheltenham and I think that was because he gave absolutely everything at Ascot.

“The first time, Sprinter Sacre beat him on good ground, no disgrace in that, and then Balko Des Flos beat him the other year.

“He won three Clarence Houses and was second in another, his final ever race when Defi Du Seuil beat him, who was five years younger than him. He’d also beaten us in the Tingle Creek.

“I would have loved to have won four because I don’t think any horse will ever win four. No one might win three again, it takes an awful lot of work. I certainly don’t think another horse trained in Ireland will ever win three Clarence Houses again.

“Maybe Ascot will name a race after him, who knows. It would be fitting.”

As well as three Clarence Houses and his Cheltenham wins, he won Punchestown’s Champion Chase twice, a Tingle Creek and the Prix La Barka at Auteuil – and had the misfortune of straddling the eras of Sprinter Sacre and Altior.

“He was such a warrior, and when you think of the horses he came up against, it was a golden era. He raced against Sprinter Sacre, Altior, Sire De Grugy, Douvan, Min. Some very good two-milers,” said O’Connell.

“When Sprinter Sacre beat us in the Queen Mother (2016), we put it down to tactics – and going to Sandown afterwards, we thought we’d change it up a bit and were quietly confident, but we got it handed to us that day. He was a phenomenal horse, Sprinter Sacre.

“I remember in one of his Clarence House wins, he ran against Speredek, who must have been 20 lengths clear at one stage, but Paul Townend just sat and sat and gradually reeled him in. It was bad ground and he seemed to effortlessly plough through it.

“He went to Cheltenham after that and just wasn’t quite at his best, I think that Ascot race left a mark, but at that time of year, he was unbeatable.

“The Clarence House is such a great race. It takes some going to get up that hill from Swinley Bottom, and Ascot is such a great place. You have the Ascot factor.”

All eyes will again be on the Ascot race this weekend, and O’Connell will be a keen onlooker.

“This year’s race looks a cracker,” he said.

“We all know what Jonbon is, we just don’t know what El Fabiolo is. We’re still rating him on what he could be. I’d say it’s a genuine 50-50 call because Jonbon has come out and won an open Grade One already. I think I’d back whichever was the bigger price!”

Monday’s meeting at Hereford and Tuesday’s fixture at Plumpton are both subject to morning inspections as racecourses across Britain brace themselves for freezing temperatures this week.

While racing over the weekend was unaffected, a forecast for snow and ice in the coming days looks set to have a significant impact on the National Hunt programme.

An 8am precautionary inspection has been called ahead of Hereford’s Monday jumps card, but clerk of the course John Holliday is “optimistic” racing will go ahead.

He said: “We’re due to get down to minus 2C tonight, so it’s not going to be too drastic I don’t think, so I’m pretty optimistic.

“We’ve called the precautionary inspection to be on the safe side. Our biggest problem is it’s not going to get very warm – it’s only due to get up to 3C at about 1pm on Monday and then it starts getting cold again.

“If it’s frozen in the morning I should think we’re in trouble, but I’m fairly confident. We haven’t had a frost yet, so it’s not like we’ve had two or three on the bounce, which is always worse.

“We’ve covered vulnerable areas and most of the hurdles track as well.”

Tuesday’s meeting at Plumpton is subject to an 8.30am inspection on raceday morning.

The course has been frost free since Friday, but the mercury is forecast to dip below freezing on Monday morning and temperatures could get as low as minus 3C on Monday night.

Jay Jay Reilly sprang a 33-1 surprise to give trainer Dan Skelton a second straight success in the Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle at Kempton.

Last year, it was Bridget Andrews in the saddle as West Balboa prevailed by a short head.

This time, Tristan Durrell sent the eight-year-old Jay Jay Reilly to the front at the penultimate obstacle and he kept on gamely all the way to the line.

Nemean Lion looked a big danger approaching the final flight, but a sloppy jump left the 9-2 shot fighting a losing battle on the run-in and he went down by a length and a quarter.

Impose Toi, the 11-4 favourite, and 28-1 outsider Good Luck Charm filled the minor placings.

Durrell, who still claims a 3lb allowance, had earlier obliged on Flegmatik for the same handler and he told Racing TV: “It’s unbelievable. Obviously, the best day of my career.

“I’ve never ridden a double before and a double on a big day like this is just unreal. To win the Lanzarote, it’s a big, competitive handicap, I’m just very grateful to Dan and the owners for putting me up and putting their trust in me. It’s nice to go and win.

“On the way down, I said to Bridget ‘you need to tell me how to win a Lanzarote, because you won last year’.

“She said ‘you need an OK start, so you’re not too far away because there’s so many runners, and just try to keep out of trouble’ – and that’s where I was.

“I had a nice bit of room, just followed Harry Cobden through and it couldn’t have worked out better for me.”

Jay Jay Reilly’s past nine outings had been over fences, including an eighth-place finish in the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham last time out.

“It’s funny, because he was a big price but at home we all thought he had a good chance, as he’s never felt so well all year and back over hurdles, they just gain confidence, don’t they,” added Durrell.

“We thought he had a good chance, but it’s always unbelievable when it happens, isn’t it. It’s a great day for the team and just brilliant.”

My Silver Lining hung on for victory in an exciting finish to the Wigley Group Classic Handicap Chase at Warwick.

The three-mile-five-furlong heat proved a thorough test of stamina on soft ground and it was Emma Lavelle’s charge who emerged the victor in the hands of James Best.

Percussion was the first to really set sail for home but the two mares, Galia Des Liteaux and My Silver Lining, had the race to themselves in the straight.

My Silver Lining (17-2) had a couple of lengths in hand jumping the penultimate fence and still held a distinct advantage at the last, but Galia Des Liteaux was cutting into her lead with every stride on the flat.

However, the winning post arrived in time for My Silver Lining, who prevailed by three-quarters of a length, with the pair 12 lengths clear of third-placed Guetapan Collonges.

John Kington enjoyed his biggest victory in the saddle as J’Ai Froid took advantage of a final-flight blunder from Kyntara to claim the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle at Warwick.

Both Laura Morgan’s winner and the Mel Rowley-trained runner-up were to the fore throughout in the extended three-mile contest, but J’Ai Froid’s chance appeared to have evaporated as the 11-year-old came under a drive two out while Kyntara appeared full of running under Charlie Deutsch.

However, Kyntara put in a sluggish leap at the last which gave the chasing pack hope and Kington conjured up extra from the willing veteran to rally for a three-quarter-length victory at odds of 8-1.

Kington was keen to express his gratitude to J’Ai Froid’s handler Morgan, who has allowed him to strike up a fine partnership with one of her stable stalwart’s this season.

He said: “I moved down by Laura’s at the start of the season and began to ride out, I’ve been in four or five mornings a week and she ended up putting me on him for his first run of the year and he ended up winning.

“Luckily enough and thank you to Laura, but she has kept me on him and we haven’t been out of the first two.

“It’s marvellous for the team back at home and I’m just a small part of the team who gets to enjoy riding him on the track.

“It’s one of the biggest days of my riding career and I’ve been at it a long time. I love my racing and this is what I’m here to do. I’m normally away somewhere else riding when the racing is on the TV and it’s thanks to Laura really for giving me that opportunity.

“Days like this are what you wake up in the morning for, finding that one horse, and I’m over the moon.”

Nigel Hawke’s Donnacha (2-1 favourite) had bumped into quality opposition when placing at Cheltenham the last twice, but supplemented his early-season Chepstow success with a battling display under Lorcan Murtagh in the Michael Costello Memorial Handicap Hurdle.

“He deserved that,” said Hawke. “The last two runs have been in good company and he hasn’t disgraced himself and he’s a work in progress and is improving all the time.

“We won at Chepstow first time out, so this is his second win of the season and he has been to Cheltenham twice. The idea was to go to Cheltenham to get an idea of what we have got and we got that.

“We waited 18 months before he even hit the racecourse, he was a lovely three- and four-year-old but we’ve waited and are reaping the rewards now. There is a lack of these horses in the country because it takes time, but with the right owners you reap rewards long term.”

Betfair left Donnacha unchanged at 16-1 for Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle on February 10 and Hawke confirmed that race would come under consideration for the steadily improving six-year-old.

He added: “He’s in at Newbury (in the Betfair) and we will see what happens – we will have to have a look at it.

“Whatever he does this year, he will be a better horse next year over two and a half (miles) and probably fences, so I won’t be killing him this year.

“I think we will look after him a bit and there are thoughts of the EBF Final (at Sandown) but by then the ground might have dried out.

“Let’s go home with the programme book and see, If he had won by 15-20 lengths today and he didn’t have the Newbury entry you would be kicking yourself, but we’ll see how we go. He’s a great horse for the future.”

There were only two runners in the Unibet Edward Courage Cup Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase but Dan Skelton’s Etalon marked himself as a horse on the rise by following up his impressive Newbury return with a cosy 44-length success.

Meanwhile, Joe Tizzard’s Diamond Ri (evens favourite) opened his hurdles account at the second attempt in the Wigley Support Fund ‘National Hunt’ Maiden Hurdle.

An impressive bumper winner at the track in the spring, he bumped into Paul Nicholls’ well-regarded Insurrection at Exeter on his hurdles bow, but upped in trip he produced a professional performance in the hands of Brendan Powell.

“I think the form of his Exeter run is brilliant and he just tweaked a muscle, hence you haven’t seen him again since,” explained Tizzard.

“He’s still very raw and has a lot to learn still, but he’s getting the hang of it and he’s getting the hang of jumping at home. He’s not going to be an immediate natural because he’s a big frame of a horse, but he has a big engine and Brendan was just educating him and said once you gave him a flick, he quickened away nicely. I like him a lot.

“He’s going to make a lovely chaser and he’s just a big, raw National Hunt youngster, he’s not a speedster or anything like that but he has a lot of class.

“He’ll get all the entries and we will run again in three weeks’ time (in a novice under a penalty) and we’ll see where we are. He hasn’t got to go to Cheltenham but he’ll have the entries and sometimes you have to take your chance while you can as well.

“We’ll just try to do right by the horse, let him develop and let him tell us where he wants to end up.”

Banbridge kept on strongly to become the first Irish-trained winner of the Grade Two Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton.

Joseph O’Brien’s eight-year-old was having his first outing for 275 days but got the better of defending champion Pic D’Orhy thanks to jumping the final fence better under JJ Slevin.

Pic D’Orhy, who coasted to a 16-length success in this contest 12 months ago, set the pace early on from Banbridge, with the other three runners in a line a few lengths back.

Notlongtillmay made a brief forward move on the turn for home, while Edwardstone and Janidil never quite got into the contest.

That left Banbridge and Pic D’Orhy to battle it out up the home straight and a late blunder by the latter proved decisive, with the 3-1 victor prevailing by a length and three-quarters.

Winning owner Ronnie Bartlett told Racing TV: “We were always looking for good ground for him and we got it today. He was maybe a wee bit rusty at times but we’re very happy – he put up a solid performance.

“He made a few mistakes but he’s been off the track for a long time, so it’s pretty exciting.

“He just seems to be very professional, he’s more mature, he’s got bigger and thicker and he’s just in a good way. He was very cool about travelling over here, he was relaxed and it was a good way to start the season.

“We’ve had him bubbling for a long time and there have been races we were going for but the ground wasn’t what we wanted, but Joseph said there is still some improvement to go and we’re happy with that.”

Banbridge was cut from 10-1 to 5-1 for the Ryanair Chase by Betfair, Coral and Paddy Power.

“We’ll wait and see what the ground is like, he’s a spring horse, so we’ll watch him accordingly, but all being well, that’s the race we’ll be going for,” added Bartlett.

There was a sad postscript to the race, as Notlongtillmay suffered a fatal fall at the last fence.

Tearful trainer Laura Morgan told ITV Racing: “It’s absolutely horrendous, he didn’t deserve that. He just took a nasty fall at the last and broke his shoulder.

“He’s been our stable star and it’s so upsetting. It will leave a massive hole in the yard every day, he was such a character as well – and little Ernie, the pony that has come with him, he will miss him.”

Grey Dawning regained the winning thread with a comfortable triumph in the Trustatrader Hampton Novices’ Chase at Warwick.

Dan Skelton’s charge had looked set for a Cheltenham victory last time out, only to make a mess of the penultimate fence, which saw him have to give best to Ginny’s Destiny.

Sent off the 5-4 favourite to make amends, Harry Skelton was happy to settle in behind the front-running Apple Away for much of the three-mile contest, with Broadway Boy the only other horse really in contention on the turn for home.

However, he began to struggle as Grey Dawning made smooth progress on the outside to grab the lead from Apple Away at the second last, despite running slightly down that fence.

He was also a bit slow to jump at the last, but Skelton’s mount kept galloping to the line to win by 14 lengths – a result which saw Betfair cut him to 10-1 from 16s for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.