The effect on attendance by the weekend rugby hordes invading Dublin will be interesting. The Hennessy card is normally one of the most attractive and informative of the winter, and much of the charm is in the atmosphere of a huge Sunday crowd.

The race itself is shaping up to be a democratic affair in a season where steeplechasing has been ruled by Kauto Star. Even though War of Attrition is also an absentee for the event, it remains an intriguing contest that will answer some open questions.

The first of these is how good is The Listener? Robert Alner's eight-year-old again crosses the Irish Sea to attempt a repeat of his finest hour, which was winning the Lexus Chase here at Christmas under young Enniscorthy claimer Daryl Jacob. He was impressive that day, but there remains the nagging possibility he was given too much rope by his rivals - and he duly hung them.

Beef or Salmon, who was second in the Lexus, runs here again, and although he is now getting on a bit he has his ideal conditions - soft ground, small field, Leopardstown.

This could be his last realistic chance to add to his very impressive career haul of eight Grade One victories.

Unless The Listener is genuinely sustaining improvement, the most realistic Gold Cup winner on view will be Michael O'Brien's In Compliance. Third favourite for the Cheltenham feature, he was an impressive winner of the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown in December, beating War of Attrition. He looks to have the class to beat the English raider and the youth to beat Beef or Salmon.

Hedgehunter and Forget the Past provide some other meat for a menu that has some excellent starters and a luscious dessert.

If there is to be a Gold Cup winner on view it may well be the lauded novice, Aran Concerto in the preceding Deloitte Hurdle, but you will have to wait until at least 2009 to see if that happens.

Other notable clues will unfurl in the PJ Moriarty novice chase, and the bumper at this has historically been a race in which WP Mullins sets a monster free.