The John Durkan is nearly always the starting point for the vast majority of his top chasers and a lot of his Gold Cup type horses given that it is 2m4f which is the right distance for a first run of the season i.e. not a 3m slog in deep ground.
This year’s race was also run of soft/heavy ground so invariably its the right ground conditions for his horses too. This year it contained the Gold Cup first and third and the Ryanair winner so it is likely that all three of those horses will start there at least.