Patrick Mullins is expecting Galopin Des Champs to come forward significantly from whatever he does in Sunday's John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase.
A back-to-back winner of the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, he finished third behind the reopposing Fastorslow on his seasonal return in the contest last season and hasn't had an uninterrupted preparation for the race this time around.
“He just had a couple of easy weeks, rather than completely missed them, so there’s that part and he got beat in the race last year," the assistant trainer explained.
“He’s ready to start, he schooled and worked very well at the Curragh on Tuesday but if he doesn’t win it’s not going to be the end of the world. The third Gold Cup is the main aim for him this season and he's going there to win on Sunday but it's not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.
“It’s going to be a fascinating race watching Fact To File taking him on along with Spillane’s Tower and Fastorslow. Fact To File was second in the Champion Bumper, he’s not a slow horse, and the horse that beat him was a Flat-bred horse in A Dream To Share.
