The young horses take centre stage in ring one at the RDS this morning, with the supreme championship expected to be a hotly-fought contest. Dessie Gibson's two-year-old champion, High Point, is tipped as one of three favourites that will be vying for the honours.
The son of Puissance, which won the All-Ireland title at Tinahely in Co Wicklow last Monday, has attracted a lot of interest, including from an Irish Olympic event rider who has already put in a substantial bid for the gelding.
But High Point will have to fend off strong challenges from the three-year-old ranks, with Michael Lyons's mediumweight winner Kilmastulla Spencer and the lightweight Dromelimy Imp, owned by Patrick and Linda Downes, both expected to feature.
Kilmastalla Spencer, a gelded son of Big Sink Hope bred in Co Cork by Michael McCarthy, is the dark horse of the championship, but both he and High Point will have to be at their best to keep the judges' eyes away from the Downes's Co Offaly-bred Master Imp gelding.
A win for Co Down man Dessie Gibson would be hugely popular, particularly after his misfortune at Tinahely when his mediumweight hope Midnight Warrior was injured and had to be withdrawn from Dublin.
The Colin Diamond two-year-old turned over in the horse box on the journey south to Wicklow and suffered a cut above its eye.
The youngster had to be tranquillised so that the injury could be stitched, putting an end to his Dublin aspirations. So, if his stablemate High Point could go all the way in ring one this morning, there would be few at the ringside who would begrudge Gibson his moment in the spotlight.