Ferny Hollow makes the list as Timeform provide five Willie Mullins-trained horses they expect it to pay to follow this season.
Chacun Pour Soi (c176p)
Chacun Pour Soi had been off the course for 36 months before making his stable debut in March 2019, but he produced an electric display to win a Naas beginners’ chase by 31 lengths, and he quickly followed up in Grade 1 company at the Punchestown Festival, getting the better of Cheltenham Festival winners Defi du Seuil and Duc des Genievres.
Chacun Pour Soi was turned over at a short price by A Plus Tard on his reappearance last season, but he proved a different proposition with that outing under his belt, producing a performance of the highest calibre to brush aside top-class stablemate Min in the Dublin Chase back at Leopardstown. That earned him a rating of 176p, which is the highest of any horse in training (Altior is on 175+), and he will take plenty of beating in the two-mile division.
Allaho (c164p)
Allaho is a strapping sort, very much a chaser on looks, so it was no surprise to see him fare so well over fences last season. Like Chacun Pour Soi, he was beaten at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting when seemingly short of peak fitness, but he improved as expected to bolt up in a beginners’ chase at Fairyhouse, dismissing some useful rivals with the minimum of fuss over two miles and five furlongs.
He showed even better form in defeat when third in the RSA Chase over three miles, running a cracker at the Cheltenham Festival for the second year in a row having previously finished third in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle. The lightly-raced Allaho may still have more to offer over fences and looks sure to bag a decent prize, possessing the speed to cope with a drop back to two and a half miles.
Saint Roi (h150p)
The fact Saint Roi was sent off at 11/2 for the County Hurdle with such little experience or meaningful form over hurdles strongly suggested that connections had been pleased with what he had been producing at home, and he duly proved himself a well-handicapped horse, bolting up by four and a half lengths at Cheltenham. He stormed clear in the style of a horse capable of developing into a Champion Hurdle contender, and he is already up and running for the season, winning a Grade 3 Hurdle at Tipperary last month with ease.
The Big Getaway (h148p)
The Big Getaway is a big, strong, imposing gelding, very much the type to come into his own over fences, so it was highly encouraging that he was able to run to such a smart level over hurdles last season, signing off with a third in the Ballymore at the Cheltenham Festival. The Big Getaway has seemingly always been held in high regard – he was sent off 8/11 on debut in a Navan bumper won by Fiddlerontheroof – and he has not yet shown everything he has to offer. He remains a hugely exciting prospect.
Ferny Hollow (b123)
Inexperience cost Ferny Hollow – an expensive recruit from point-to-points – on his first two outings in bumpers, but he made the most of a good opportunity at Fairyhouse, when ridden more patiently than previously and in a first-time hood, to book his ticket to the Cheltenham Festival. The Champion Bumper was run at a strong gallop, which suited Ferny Hollow who had been anchored in rear, but it was still impressive how he scythed his way into contention before forging clear up the hill, running to a level only 2 lb shy of Envoi Allen the previous year. He is a top prospect for novice hurdles and will stay further than two miles.