Martin Brassil: More to come from Fastorslow ahead of Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown

Martin Brassil is confident there is improvement to come from Fastorslow when he takes Galopin Des Champs on again in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival.

The feature race of next weekend's two-day meeting at Leopardstown looks set to feature the first two in the betting for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham just over a month later.

The pair have met three times in their careers to date. Galopin Des Champs finished a long way clear in the 2022 John Durkan Chase when Fastorslow was making his Irish debut over fences - but Brassil's star came out on top at the Punchestown Festival and in this season's John Durkan.

He does hold an alternative engagement in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase, but that will only be needed if the ground comes up very soft - conditions which prevented him taking on Galopin Des Champs at Christmas.

"We only entered for the two-mile race in case the ground comes up heavy, but the preferred option is the Gold Cup," said Brassil after watching his stable star on the Curragh gallops on Wednesday.

"I'm very happy with him, he's in a good place, he was ready to run at Christmas. He's a very easy horse to watch as he eats well, loves his work and thrives on what he does. It's a case of maintaining that.

"He was beaten a short head when the ground was terrible at Cheltenham a couple of years ago (Coral Cup) and the ground was soft enough there last year (second in the Ultima). He won the John Durkan on soft, he's versatile regards ground, we just felt that we didn't really need to run him on heavy ground (at Christmas) when the (Irish) Gold Cup was another option.

"Galopin Des Champs is a top-class horse, a Gold Cup winner, so he's always going to be hard enough to crack. Going back over three miles