JJ Slevin
My Season So Far
Numerically, it is ok. I've had 27 or 28 winners between Ireland and England so far. Obviously, I got hurt last year, so I had 32. My best ever season is 44 in Ireland and four in England, so if I could top that, I'd be happy.
It's hard - anything over 30 winners in Ireland is a good enough year for the likes of me. That’s what we’ll be aiming for.
Leopardstown
World Class Leopardstown
Big fences and loads of jumping. There are five or six down the back, two along the side, and there are three more once you get levelled off down the bottom and up the straight. There is a good pull at Leopardstown, a good pull home, but a proper Grade 1 track with proper fences. They take a lot of jumping, and you need the right animal underneath you.
If you're on the right horse, it's the best place in the world to ride around over fences. Usually, over fences, the best horse wins, even in those big field races. Recently, I've been lucky at Leopardstown. Home By The Lee winning there was great, and Solness winning a Grade 1 there last Christmas was also brilliant. Those are the two standout days.
I’ve been lucky just to be riding there. It is where all the top-class horses go. So just to be riding there over Christmas is a good thing to do - to have even one winner over the four days makes it a good week because it's such a competitive race.
Mullins Puts His Foot Down
You learn massively. All those horses, the novices in particular; the novice hurdlers, novice chasers, bumper horses. You learn everything about every Irish horse at Leopardstown.
Leopardstown at Christmas is where you learn a lot. Everyone turns up. You’ve got all those big handicaps, big fields, you've got all the top trainers. It's a competitive week of racing, and it's a tough week to ride at, because there are all the good horses around. Those big field handicaps, you need to be on the ball. It's a long week riding it, but it's an enjoyable week if it's going your way! It's not going your way.
We'll see all those good bumper horses and novices from Willie Mullins’ yard. By the first of January, you'll have a fair idea of what's going to be turning up in Cheltenham in March!
Key Leopardstown Picks
Galopin Des Champs “Tough To Beat” For The Savils Chase.
It looks like Galopin des Champs is going to start there again. He's obviously very, very good, and he's won Gold Cups, and he's done this and that and everything. He’s been pretty devastating at Leopardstown, where he's going to be very hard to beat, no matter who turns up.
Inothewayurthinin ’ got beat a good bit last time, but he's going to improve.
Fastorslow is going to be in there. He gave Galopin a bit of a run in the Irish Gold Cup. But Galopin in Leopardstown at Christmas is hard to beat. He is so good around there. He loves those fences. I’m riding Fastorslow, I’m looking forward to it. He’s a standout horse for me.
He had a lovely run in the John Durkan, and now he’s back up to three miles on hopefully on ground that is not too soft for him.
Listed Handicap Chase
It’s a tough handicap chase with a big field, three miles around Leopardstown. I am looking at Blizzard of Oz.
He ran a lovely race in the old Hennessey. He made a bad mistake at the fourth last, and that knocked him out. He’ll have a nice lot of weight on his back, but he's a class horse, and if he got a bit of luck in running, he could have won that race. It's not an easy race to win. I have actually been second in it three times, and third once!
December Hurdle
So that's going to be a good race. It'll be interesting. Lossiemouth is the 4/6 favourite. She’s a very good mare; she can go two miles and two and a half. I don't know if Anzadam will take her on, or Irancy , or Wodhooh and Casheldale Lad .
The big news is that Brighterdaysahead looks like she’ll be supplemented, too, which will mean a huge showdown with Lossiemouth. El Fabiolo could be good value at 20/1. He could be interesting.
Christmas Hurdle.
Another good race in prospect. There are a few young stayers around, like Ballyburn , who had a very good last run. Teahupoo , if he turns up, is a class horse, and Bob Ollinger .
I think I’ll be on Home By The Lee . He’s been a great horse over the years, and I also schooled him this week. He is in good shape, and he has been primed to run in the race. He is such a great old campaigner and is ten now. Those young horses, Teahupoo and Ballyburn, are fast three milers. But Joseph has kept Home By The Lee fresh for the day. He will give it his best go anyway.
King George VI Chase Preview
King George Regret
It was brilliant for Joseph [O’Brien, trainer] to win such a prestigious race as the King George. If anyone is going to be a horse’s back, it’s great to have Paul Townend take the ride. He’s a great fella. That’s the way the game goes: you win some, you lose some.
Horses to Watch
Banbridge is definitely coming over. I don’t know where I will be going just yet. It depends on what people are wanting to do and where people are going. I schooled him on Monday, and he's in really good shape. He’s come on a lot from his run in the Hilly Way Chase in Cork. He didn't really sparkle, but he felt really good this week.
Joseph has a few tricks up his sleeve. I think we’ll see a similar Banbridge to the one that was in Kempton last year. At this point in time, it looks like a strong King George. There’s never really a weak one to be fair, but this is as strong a field as we’ve seen for the past few years.
What Gaelic Warrior did in the John Durkan was an unbelievable performance. But the only thing about that race and the way he did it, he really had to dig down and fight with all he had. He gave himself a pretty hard time. He has had plenty enough time to recover, but he's still going to have to back that up and reproduce that form again. In fairness to Willie Mullins, he is able to pull a horse out again after that sort of race, and they do usually perform.
He’ll bring them along at a merry gallop in the King George. He’s still got to go three miles as well. Maybe he'll be a better ride with getting the fizziness out of him after that first run. He won’t be as forward, and maybe he’ll settle a bit better. Kempton will definitely play to his strengths.
Jango Baie is probably like a staying two-miler who looks like he's going to be able to step up in trip soon. Those horses that are able to win at two miles and then have a bit of stamina to get an extended distance, they can be very dangerous horses.
He could be a very good horse when he goes out in trip. He was a very consistent horse last season, so we don't really know. He’s untested out of novice company, but the fact that he could do it over two miles and looks like he's going to be a stayer means that he's definitely a main danger in that race.
The Jukebox Man could be good. He’s a good horse and won at Kempton last year, and he had a very good win at Haydock. So, he’s on the up. A young horse on the up is what you need in these sorts of races. He’s a lively outsider, I’d say. Realistically, it is hard to get away from Gaelic Warrior. If I was offered the ride on something, I would have to choose him!
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