It's a case of the usual festival suspects as Tralee's six-day blow out gets under way this afternoon with even more festival trappings to boast about.
For the first time a big screen will be in operation in front of the stands, there is a free car on offer every day for those fortunate enough to pick every winner on the card and the prizemoney total for the week has been hiked to a total of £406,500.
There is a certain comfort to be had however in the thought that somethings never change. The forecast "yielding to soft" going indicates that north Kerry has had its usual summer and although today's feature is the £16,000 Patsy Byrne Hurdle, there should also be a comfortable familiarity about the winning names.
In the last race Dermot Weld provides what could be the best bet of the day in Circus Maximus, an admittedly slow horse who nevertheless was hampered on the turn in behind Sopronino at Fairyhouse on Saturday and faces an even slower bunch than him in the TJ Cross Maiden.
An even more potent name around Tralee, however, must be Dungarvan trainer John Queally who comes here with a string in rare form and a couple of A1 chances for punters to get stuck into.
Queally's Tralee record speaks for itself when you consider five of the last eight horses he has saddled here have won and his stable has had five successes from just 16 runners since the new jumps season started in June.
That is scintillating form and Cloda's Minstral for one can keep the strike rate up in the opening Beginners Chase. This one has been handicap hurdling, including when winning at Clonmel, but he is sure to be ready for this and the race appears set to host a vulnerable looking favourite.
Ratings wise Royal Marine's chance is clear but he has disappointed before and maybe a bigger danger will be Ruby Walsh's mount Creon who ran behind Misty Moments at Kilbeggan.
Barry Geraghty takes the ride on the Queally runner in the handicap chase, Truckinabout, and the 10-year-old has already tasted success around the course and distance by winning in June. Since then he was fifth to Francis Bay at Killarney but that one's subsequent exploits proved he was tackling a tough task then.
Today he has to tackle Arthur Moore's Clan Royal who's on a hat-trick following a Ballinrobe novice chase and a Bellewstown maiden hurdle, and last year's winner Diamond Melody but Truckinabout could represent a touch of value.
Cloda's Minstrel's rider Ken Whelan can add to his good day in the feature as Winter Garden comes here on a revenge mission. Martin Lynch's horse was well fancied for the Galway Hurdle but his chance disappeared early when another horse jumped into him and Winter Garden returned cut.
If he has recovered from that Winter Garden must have a decent chance of giving Ryanair's Cathal Ryan a decent prize although Charlie Swan's presence on the back of Rith Dubh looks significant.
Polish Legion won easily at Cork on Friday night and even with a 5lb penalty must be hard to beat in the sprint handicap while another who could defy a 5lb penalty is Tasbok who returned from almost a two-year absence to win at Tramore last week.
