Paul Townend previews a busy Thursday at Leopardstown

I have another busy day ahead of me at Leopardstown where the Willie Mullins stable will be strongly represented with multiple runners in some races.

That will be the case in the first. Willie runs two in which I ride Andalusa (12.10) and Ruby rides the other.

He’s a horse that goes nicely at home and we are probably still learning about him. There are 29 runners so it’s not going to easy. We will see how he fares but I wouldn’t rule him out.

I ride Real Steel (12.40) in the beginners chase. He was running in Grade 1 company over hurdles last season.

He fell upsides Sharjah at this meeting last year and that level of form is very good. His schooling has been good at home.

It’s his first run over fences. His season probably petered out a bit after that fall.

He didn’t reproduce that run again but he is a horse that we liked as a novice hurdler last year and hopefully fences can bring out another bit of improvement.

Causey Arch (2.20) is a horse with loads of ability. He has disappointed us to be honest. He was impressive in a few novice hurdles during the summer but he doesn’t seem to have run well in big fields. Maybe he is not suited to them.

The better ground will definitely suit him. If he puts his best foot forward he has the ability to be in the shake-up. He just has to recapture his best form.

I ride Polidam (3.00) in the big handicap chase. He has been competitive in a lot of good handicaps. He is a horse we thought a hell of a lot of when we got him first.

He’s been running well without landing a big pot. We still think there is a big day in him. I’m definitely hoping it will be Friday.

It’s the Paddy Power, it’s so competitive that you can make a case for ten or 12 of them in the race and he has plenty of weight, which won’t help.

He’s a fine, big horse and we’d be hoping he can put it all together and give us a good run for our money. It’s hard to be confident in a race like that.

If Real Steel can find any bit of improvement off the start of his novice hurdle season – that form here with Sharjah looks very good – he would be my best chance of a winner.

Paul