Can Minella Indo recover from a poor Irish Gold Cup showing in time for Cheltenham?

There was a lot of talk about Minella Indo ahead of the Cheltenham Festival. Seen as a young contender to snatch Al Boum Photo’s Cheltenham Gold Cup throne next month, excitement was building over how far Henry de Bromhead’s horse could go and what he could achieve, especially given the gelding’s position among the favourites in the Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup odds.

But much of this excitement and anticipation was dampened on a bitter day at Leopardstown, as Minella Indo failed to live up to his status as pre-race favourite in the Irish Gold Cup. In the end it was a disappointing fourth-place finish for jockey Rachael Blackmore, who failed to get the best out of the horse on this occasion. As Willie Mullins’ Kemboy strode to victory, de Bromhead and Blackmore were left to scratch their heads and ponder what went wrong.

A slightly sluggish start left Minella Indo with ground to make up on Kemboy from the very beginning of the race, and after a mistake with just two fences to go, it became clear that it wasn’t going to be the eight-year-old’s day. Without that error from two out, Minella Indo may have been able to force his way back into contentions, but it seemed predestined that this was to be an afternoon of disappointment for this particular horse.

The result is by no means a nail in Minella Indo’s Cheltenham Gold Cup coffin. Indeed, he was always going to be up against it when you consider the quality of defending champion Al Boum Photo, trained by Mullins. It was a blow for de Bromhead’s quest of breaking up the dominance of Mullins and Gordon Elliott in Irish racing, but there can be no doubt that he and Blackmore will rise again. The pair’s victory with Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle proves that both have the quality necessary to get a response out of Minella Indo in time for Cheltenham.

After a couple of good runs last year following defeat to Champ in a Novices’ Chase at last year’s Festival, the last two outings for Minella Indo – both at Leopardstown – have brought disappointment. A fall in the Savills Chase at the end of December was hard to take, and now this latest setback means it’s been a tough couple of months for all of the horse’s connections.

But all that will be forgotten about if Minella Indo can come good at Cheltenham. It’ll take a seismic achievement to overthrow Al Boum Photo to win the Gold Cup, but stranger things have happened in the history of the great Prestbury Park meeting. It would delight de Bromhead to snatch the Gold Cup title out of the hands of Mullins and give him a true taste of disappointment at the Festival where he is usually so dominant. If you’re lucky enough to get some free bets for Cheltenham, then Minella Indo may be worth a punt.

The Irish Gold Cup didn’t quite go to plan, but that is only the warm-up for the big one at Cheltenham next month, where Minella Indo will be brought back into the best possible shape to challenge for victory in one of the most prestigious horse races in the world. If that’s not enough to motivate de Bromhead and Blackmore, then nothing is.