Townend shows his character to carry Next Destination home in front

The aberration was colossal but the character shown in response to it was even bigger.

Paul Townend is made of stronger stuff than me or you and he recovered from his monumental mishap on Al Boum Photo to carry Next Destination across the line in a fantastic finish to the first Grade 1 of the day. It was the perfect way to silence the silly talk. This was Townend at his toughest, both mentally and physically.

Unsurprisingly Townend did not want to dwell on Tuesday's troubles and was keen to focus on the horse rather than the rider.

"Yesterday is yesterday. I have a good man behind me in Willie [Mullins] and I just want to put it behind me now," he said.

"Next Destination was tough and he had to pull out all the stops there."

Mullins was keen to highlight Townend's character after the race, heaping praise upon his winning rides on Pravalaguna and Next Destination.

"It was a great performance from both horse and rider. Paul has been cool under pressure in the last two races and the crowd are clearly delighted for him. It shows how highly he’s thought of over here," said the defending champion trainer who won the three Grade 1s on offer on Wednesday to whittle down his deficit.

All out: Townend lands the novice hurdle on Next Destination (middle) in the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle, getting the better of Delta Work (right) and Kilbricken StormCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

As for for Next Destination, chasing is on the agenda next term.

Mullins said: I couldn’t see him winning at any stage until he got his head in front and, when Davy [Russell, on Delta Work] came up behind, it seemed to spur our fella on. He's lazy.

"He could easily go chasing next season but I'll have to discuss that with Mr Denmark. He’ll probably start off chasing and if it doesn’t work out he can go back hurdling. He could be a top-class hurdler in the staying division."

Delta Work was denied by a neck with Albert Bartlett winner, Kilbricken Storm, brave in defeat and a further neck back in third.

Next Destination was paying a big compliment to Samcro, who blitzed him in the Ballymore and steps out of novice company for the first time in Friday's Betdaq Champion Hurdle.

This was not about Samcro, though. This was about a jockey silencing his critics and proving how talented he is.

Take a bow, Paul.

Members can read the latest exclusive interviews, news analysis and comment available from 6pm daily on racingpost.com