Leopardstown Racecourse can expect a bumper crowd when it stages the two-day Dublin Racing Festival on Saturday and Sunday, 5 and 6 February.

It will the first time the track has hosted a substantial number of racegoers in exactly two years. At the corresponding meeting in 2020, Honeysuckle announced herself as a true star when winning the Irish Champion Hurdle for the first time.

As Rachael Blackmore and Honeysuckle were roared into the winner’s enclosure that day, little did we know our racecourses were about to be stripped of all atmosphere for two years.

The corresponding meeting in 2021 was run completely behind closed doors and even last month’s Christmas Racing Festival at the Dublin track was reduced to just a handful of spectators as the racecourse was unable to guarantee the availability of sufficient staff to cater for the 5,000 people who had bought tickets.

Can we be sure the crowds will return, having been away for so long? Early signs suggest that the public’s appetite is still there. Just an hour after An Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s announcement regarding the lifting of social restrictions, Leopardstown’s website crashed due to the high volume of ticket sales.

Last Saturday’s big race at Ascot – a thriller between Shishkin and Energumene – will have caught the imagination of even casual racing fans who fancy a day at the races. And, at time of writing, Gowran Park in Kilkenny was expecting a huge turnout for its Thyestes raceday on Thursday (27 January).

There are four Grade 1 races each day at Leopardstown and the undercard is not bad either. There is a switch this year which will see the Gold Cup being run on Saturday and the Champion Hurdle on the Sunday.

The Gold Cup actually looks a little weak, as both Galvin and A Plus Tard – first and second here over Christmas – are swerving the rematch and going straight to Cheltenham. It also seems unlikely that trainer Henry de Bromhead will run Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo in this spot, the horse having mysteriously flopped at Kempton over Christmas. He too is likely to be given more time to regroup before Cheltenham.

This leaves the race open to the Willie Mullins squadron, horses such as Kemboy, Asterion Forlonge and possibly the King George VI Chase winner Tornado Flyer. There is also the intriguing and very real possibility of Paul Nicholls sending over both the multiple Grade 1 winners Clan Des Obeaux and Frodon.

Gordon Elliott could have three nice winners on the Saturday – Ginto, Fil Dor and American Mike are all due to have their final Cheltenham prep runs on that card.

On Sunday, Honeysuckle may not have it all her own way when she bids for a third consecutive Irish Champion Hurdle success. There is a very good chance Willie Mullins will take her on with the long-absent Appreciate It, who has not been seen since winning the first race of the 2021 Cheltenham Festival by a whopping 24 lengths.

Having met with a training setback this autumn, Appreciate It is being set a mighty task to beat Honeysuckle but it will be thrilling to see him bowling along in front with Honeysuckle waiting in the wings to pounce.

A couple of hours earlier, Mullins and de Bromhead will hopefully take each other on again when Bob Olinger (de Bromhead) and Galopin Des Champs (Mullins) square off in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase. Throw in recent Grade 1 winners Beacon Edge, Fury Road and Master McShee, and you have enough there to justify the admission fee alone.

The only two downsides to the weekend are rugby and (lack of) rain. Ireland play Wales on the Saturday (kick-off 2.15pm) and this could affect both the attendance and the number of television viewers.

A bigger issue is the weather forecast. With little or no rain forecast, coupled with Leopardstown’s over-efficient drainage system, the going is probably going to be a bit quicker than some owners and trainers would like for their heavily-built National Hunt horses.

To be fair to Leopardstown, they are continuously watering the track – unheard of during the winter months up until recently – but there is only so much you can do to combat nature. Despite their best efforts, we might see some late defectors if the sun shines.