YOU can’t gift Galopin an easy lead and expect to get away with it at Leopardstown.
Willie Mullins’ champ dominated from start to finish as he completed an Irish Gold Cup hat-trick – and he’ll now try to repeat that stunning feat at Cheltenham.
There are very few chinks in Galopin Des Champs armour and he is now a perfect seven from seven over fences at his beloved Leopardstown.
But he wasn’t made to work hard to get the lead early doors and the writing was on the wall as Paul Townend started to increase the tempo running to two out.
They were snapping at his heels at the last but, as he has done six times before, he powered clear again on the run-in to the delight of the crowd.
As was the case at Christmas in the Savills Chase, his younger stablemate Fact To File weakened after the last and will surely now be aimed at the Ryanair Chase next month.
But the Gold Cup is Galopin’s to lose, and you’ll do well to find any of the 4-6 left with the bookies for the big one at the Fez.
Mullins said: “Paul has huge faith in him, he just wanted to jump out and keep it simple. He jumped and galloped for three miles and didn’t look like he was stopping.
“He probably is the best we’ve ever had. It will be hard to beat Hurricane Fly’s record, but this is definitely the best chaser we’ve ever had.
“He goes out from the front and takes races by the scruff of the neck which is probably why he is so popular with the crowd.”
Galopin’s near five-length win completed a Grade 1 hat-trick on day one of the Dublin Racing Festival for his trainer.
Majborough booked his ticket to the Arkle when winning the Irish Arkle, for all his jumping was iffy at best, and the impressive In Demand streaked clear to bag the Nathaniel Lacy Hurdle.
LOUISE Thompson has been praised by fans after revealing her stoma bag while modelling gym gear.
Made In Chelsea star Louise, 34, looked incredible as she posed in activewear, revealing it was the first time that she felt confident enough to wear the garments in a while.
Louise has been open about her health battles after nearly losing her life during the birth of her son Leo in 2021, which left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Last April, she shared with her followers that she had been fitted with a stoma bag following years of living with ulcerative colitis – which causes the colon and rectum to become inflamed.
Now on the road to recovery, she struck a series of poses in the stylish outfits, including a figure-hugging grey leotard that accentuated her frame.
In another snap, she opted for a country-chic look, pairing a plaid mini skirt with a cosy top while posing alongside her son.
Louise wrote in her caption: “My weekly outfit round up. Which is your favourite look from this past week dressing like it was my #bestdayonearth ? 1-16?
“Would you wear any of them? I feel like a leotard is a real commitment to the cause – it’s been quite divisive over on my stories, lots of questions around going to the loo?
“I love them because they’re so easy to style into a really strong outfit and they act like a bit of a ‘thermal’ layer.
“From a confidence perspective it’s felt really nice to be able to get back into activewear and to have put on a bit of weight (and muscle).
“I was flat as a pancake for a month or so after my recent surgery so have leant towards wearing lots of looser fitting clothes.
“But my bum has somehow ballooned, we were all joking I’d had a BBL this week (quite a controversial topic), but i put it down to all the running up and down the stairs because I never sit still as a parent to a rambunctious 3 year old.
“My personality also makes it particularly hard to be ‘still’.
“How has your week been? Mine has been really split.
“Started the week feeling totally and utterly euphoric and decided that I was going to ‘follow the fun’ in evuehting I did this week and it was a really wonderful attitude to have… but by the end of the week (probably having solo patented whilst Ryan is away whilst jiggling some bug work changes).
“I’ve slightly felt like I’m crawling through treacle. I treated myself to a 20 min nap yesterday and it was golden….syrupz.
“Ryan’s back today. I can’t wait to surprise him with a sign saying ‘welcome back to prison’.
“Any fashion questions pop below and I’ll get back to you rn. L x.”
THE Made in Chelsea alumni has always spoken candidly about her health - yet what does she suffer from?
Ulcerative Colitis
Louise was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis before becoming a mum.
It is a condition which causes the colon and rectum to become inflamed – with her new stoma bag “saving her life” after the debilitating battle
PTSD
The Pocket sportswear founder was frank when she opened up on her post-natal birth struggles.
She told how she had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in late 2022 following the birth of her son Leo.
It came after she nearly died twice in childbirth in December 2021.
Incurable Lupus
Back in 2022, Louise was diagnosed with incurable Lupus.
The autoimmune disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your tissues and organs.
Blood loss
In February 2024, it was revealed that she had once again been admitted to the hospital.
In the aftermath, Louise told how she had “survived a second time” after losing three litres of blood.
It came after the brave star haemorrhaged at home.
In the caption along with her stoma bad reveal, she wrote last year: “How do I disclose this sort of news?
“It’s not exactly exciting like a big pregnancy or gender reveal announcement!
“Hey look I’m having a boy… Hey, look I’ve got a stoma! So I guess I’ll just stand here. Proud in stature. With my new friend. Le bum bag
that represents life. And hopefully a better one.
“Isn’t it bizarre that this little grey pouch is the price I pay for good health!
“I say good riddance to that nasty menacing colon! Please be kind.”
In her video, the influencer lifted her top to reveal the pouch, which she told fans “saved my life”.
Last February, fans were left fearing for her health after her fiancé Ryan Libbey revealed she was back in hospital.
He did not disclose the reason at the time.
Isn’t it bizarre that this little grey pouch is the price I pay for good health!
Louise Thompson
The personal trainer wrote in an Instagram Story: “Louise has been in hospital for 12 days now. We don’t know when she will be ready to come home yet.
“But thank you to everyone who has sent messages of love and support to our family. It does help.”
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), where the immune system mistakes 'good' bacteria inside the colon as a threat and attacks, causing the colon to become inflamed.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and in some cases, you may not have any symptoms.
Eight common symptoms:
It is unknown why the immune system can behave in this way, but it is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Medication can be taken to relieve symptoms and prevent them from returning.
These include aminosalicylates, corticosteroids and immunosuppressants.
In more serious cases, options exist for some people is to have colon removal surgery.
Your doctor would guide you on the best course of action to treat an overactive immune system.
IT IS impossible, surely, that Southampton will dig themselves out of trouble.
But at the very least, having secured only their second win of the season and opening three points under new boss Ivan Juric, Saints will not be setting an unwanted Premier League record this season.
Paul Onuachu stunned Ipswich by grabbing an unlikely 87th minute winner after Ipswich striker Liam Delap cancelled out Joe Aribo’s opening goal.
As you would expect, Southampton’s fans – having witnessed six successive top-flight losses – were in jubilant mood at the end while Michael Oliver’s final whistle was met with jeers from the home crowd.
This means Saints on nine points so are still some way off safety.
But over the next few weeks, however bad they might be – and they really are not very good – Southampton will overtake Derby’s embarrassing, record-low tally of 11 points from the 2007-08 season.
In what has been a terrible season, you can understand why many believed Southampton were going to be crowned worst of the worst.
As for Ipswich, this was a really poor result.
And, they could not end up getting a complex against south coast clubs.
They were leading Bournemouth 1-0 here in December until the 87th minute and they ended up losing 2-1.
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But this defeat was even worse as it was against a side Ipswich really needed to beat if they were to have realistic hopes of staying up.
Kieran McKenna’s team could still do it, but it will not be easy.
The problem is that despite their possession, Ipswich have little goal threat under than £20million summer signing Delap and while he has struck nine times, he cannot do everything on his own.
The other problem is that Ipswich have bungling keeper Aro Muric in goal for the next month due to an injury to Christian Walton.
Muric could have done better for both goals in what was a hugely frustrating day for McKenna with Ipswich having failed to win any of their last five Premier League games.
Saints took the lead when Mateus Fernandes’ cross took a heavy deflection off home defender Jacob Greaves and it fell perfectly for Aribo.
He had arrived inside the area completely unchallenged, something which will infuriate McKenna.
Aribo’s volley took a bounce before Muric made a terrible attempt to keep the ball out and the Kosovan gave the impression he was trying to usher it into the net.
Delap, having wasted one chance to equalise, swept the ball past Aaron Ramsdale after overcoming a feeble challenge from Southampton centre-half Jan Bednarke after a superbly-weighted through ball by Nathan Broadhead.
Saints boss Juric replaced Taylor Harwood-Bells at the break for Jack Stephens but the club skipper – who had not played for nearly two months due to suspension and injury – was on the pitch for just 11 minutes before needing to be replaced by Will Smallbone due to a muscle injury.
Ipswich will be disappointed at not testing Ramsdale more in the second half although when they did, Delap fired straight at the England keeper’s feet.
And at the end, disaster struck for the Tractor Boys when Muric could only parry a shot from Kamaldeen Sulemana into the path of Onuachu who was never going to miss.
At the end, Southampton’s fans sang “can we play you every week” and little wonder.
A WOMAN who has the body of an eight-year-old girl despite being 25 has opened up about the dangers for her with dating.
Shauna Rae, who stands at 3ft10, revealed her parents were sadly forced to teach her how to avoid predators.
Speaking on The Unplanned Podcast, Shauna shared: “It’s very easy to be prey in this world as a tiny little girl, and my parents taught me that from a very young age.
“They told me, ‘Look, any guy that’s interested in you, any person that’s interested in you, you have to read into them because there’s a chance that it’s about your size.
“I grew up knowing that, and it was scary. I was scared to date. I was scared to flirt with anyone. I was even scared to be asked out.”
Shauna shared how she was previously asked out in a cafeteria and her immediate thought was “are you a predator?”
She continued: “I just couldn’t say yes.
“I remember wondering what the conversation about dating was like between my mum and my stepdad.
“When they finally sat me down to talk about it, they said, ‘Look, when it comes to romantic things, people may view you differently.
“‘But what you want to look for is building a friendship, building a base. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about looks.
“‘You’re going to get old. You’re going to get ugly. You’re going to get grouchy.’
“They told me, ‘You want to find someone with whom you can build a strong foundation and a bond.
“‘You’ll probably end up with someone who was your friend for a really, really long time—someone who eventually realises they like you.
“‘And that’s going to be your situation.’”
Shauna, who is the star of her own TV show I am Shauna Rae, suffers from a rare condition that makes her look younger than her age.
She was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer when she was six months old and underwent chemotherapy.
While the radiation successfully rid her body of cancer, it caused her pituitary gland to not function properly.
The pituitary gland affects the “brain, skin, energy, mood, reproductive organs, vision, growth, and more,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
At just 16 years old, Shauna learned that she was officially done developing, despite taking growth hormones.
In her show, fans see Shauna’s day-to-day struggles due to her appearance, including getting turned away by bartenders and having problems getting tattoos or a gym membership.
I was scared to date. I was scared to flirt with anyone. I was even scared to be asked out
Shauna Rae
Due to her condition, Shauna has found dating to be a struggle and revealed on the show that she was currently single.
“It’s hard to meet new people because people don’t understand that I’m an adult,” she confessed during the show’s premiere.
“My last relationship ended because he didn’t want to go out to, like, a restaurant with me or just go out and take a walk with me.”
She went on to explain that she tends to attract “creeps, a**holes, and idiots.”
Despite her troubles with dating and meeting people, Shauna was romantically linked to British CEO Dan Swygart.
Their relationship was shown on season 2 of the show.
In December 2023, the reality TV star revealed she was dating someone new.
The Instagram announcement was a series of pictures with emojis covering her new beau’s face.
She captioned the post, “Please know that all I ask from y’all is to support me and refrain from being hateful toward them or my relationship.”
In a February interview on The Sarah Fraser Show, Shauna revealed that despite often attracting the wrong men, she does have sex and it boosts her confidence.
“It was confirmation that I can kind of do whatever I want, because growing up I was told that it might not be a possibility,” she explained.
“And when I found the boyfriend that I had and we dated for a couple years and it finally happened, it made me feel like a normal woman.”
She added that she has no problem having sex and can “do all those normal things other humans do in those activities.”
Speaking of why she decided to be so open about such a personal subject, she said: “I know sex is a huge topic when it comes to disability and just dwarfism in general, so it is something that is touchy.
“But it’s something that needs to be talked about.
“I don’t think sex should be so taboo as it is in our society.”
She also said that she’s super glad that her body works in that way, considering her circumstances.
