WILLIE Mullins has won eight of the last 12 runnings of the Savills New Year’s Day Chase at Tramore and Classic Getaway can enhance that record today.
The Getaway gelding has been lightly raced in recent seasons but is a classy sort when right and seems to be in a good place at the moment having won on his return at Thurles in late November.
He beat a good field in fine style then and Mullins feels he is a Grade One performer at his best.
That was just his third outing over fences and there looks scope for more improvement. He started last season in fine style with a beginners’ chase win at Gowran.
Unfortunately he missed most of the campaign afterwards and Mullins admitted that his preparation was rushed before he finished fourth in Grade One company at Punchestown in April.
With a clearer run this season he looks capable of winning some nice races and this Grade Three contest is a good opportunity for him to bag a decent prize.
Mullins saddles three in the race and there will be plenty of attention on Monkfish as the big Stowaway gelding makes his return.
He looked like a real star in the making when winning the Brown Advisory Novice Chase at Cheltenham in March 2021 but the wheels fell off the wagon afterwards.
Following a defeat at Punchestown the following month he missed almost two years.
It was a fine run on his return at Fairyhouse last Easter but he bombed out at Punchestown subsequently and has questions to answer now.
Mullins can strike in the opening maiden hurdle with Milo Lises.
The Storm The Stars gelding unseated early when sent off favourite on his hurdling debut at Navan and connections will be hoping to get back on track now.
He had looked a nice prospect when second in the Goffs Bumper at Punchestown, chasing home stablemate Predators Gold, who was runner-up in Grade One company at Leopardstown last week.
In the two-mile-five maiden hurdle, Mullins gives Stoke The Fire his first run over hurdles.
The Vadamos gelding ran up a series of placed efforts on the Flat last season, the most recent coming when narrowly denied in the valuable November Handicap at Naas in October.
He handled testing ground then and looks like the sort to make into a decent sort over jumps.
