Douvan maintains imperious form

Douvan secured his 13th straight race victory with a triumph in the Cashcard Chase at Leopardstown.

The Willie Mullins-trained horse has been unbeatable in recent times, with his success on Tuesday following on from his win in the Kerry Group Hilly Way Chase at Cork on December 11.

Jockey Ruby Walsh believes the six-year-old has unlimited potential while he has also praised the training style of Mullins.

“He just has a huge amount of ability,” Walsh said. “In time you probably could (step up in trip), but Willie is very conscious of developing these horses’ careers and going the right way about it.

Douvan is still a very young horse, he has a lot of racing in front of him.”

Walsh believes Douvan is likely to come up against his Tingle Creek-winning stable companion Un De Sceaux at some stage during the season, with a potential meeting at Ascot or the Cheltenham Festival on the cards in 2017.

The jockey added: “Un De Sceaux I think will probably go to Ascot in January and I’m sure they will take each other on somewhere.”

Douvan has emerged victorious on his last two visits to the Cheltenham Festival, winning the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2015 and the Arkle Challenge Trophy earlier this year.

The bay gelding is likely to run in the Champion Chase at this year’s Festival although the Gold Cup is also a possibility, and he is available at 13.00 to win the big race on March 17.