Townend double on final day rounds off incredible week

Yorkhill's win in the JLT Novices' Chase was a huge relief for all of us after being winnerless on the first two days of the festival and what followed on Thursday with Un De Sceaux, Nichols Canyon and Let's Dance also winning made it a fabulous day for the Closutton team.

But when I reflected on the first two days after racing on Wednesday it didn't take me long to realise that apart from Douvan, whose performance was deeply disappointing, most of our leading runners performed very well.

There was a genuine excuse for Douvan, who was found to have suffered a stress fracture on his left ilium, but several of our horses performed very well without managing to win.

Melon ran a cracking race when second in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and was beaten by Labaik, who really fired on the day, while Vroum Vroum Mag and Limini ran blinders in the OLBG Mares' Hurdle.

They were beaten by an exceptional mare in Apple's Jade in what was an excellent renewal of the race, with the three of them giving their all on the climb from the final hurdle. It was no shame to be beaten by such a high-class mare.

Bellshill performed quite well when third in the RSA Chase and Bacardys was knocked out of contention at the fifth hurdle in the Neptune when he was badly hampered and lost all chance of getting involved.

But no matter how well your horses run in defeat, there's nothing like a winner to fire you up at Cheltenham and when Yorkhill came up the hill in front in the JLT it gave all of us a huge boost. There was a slight concern about his tendency to jump to the left, but I was delighted with his jumping and by the way Ruby Walsh rode him.

Everything about Yorkhill's pedigree suggests he'll stay further than two and a half miles. To me he's all about stamina, but he also has plenty of pace and with that combination there is a lot to look forward to with him. He'll head to Punchestown as long as he comes out of Cheltenham in good shape.

The Punchestown festival will be the aim for most of our Cheltenham runners including Vroum Vroum Mag, Limini – both of whom will have different options – and Nichols Canyon, who won us a first Stayers' Hurdle on Thursday. On his only previous attempt over the trip he finished third in the Grade 1 Iroquois Hurdle in the US last year and the plan is to send him back for another crack at that race after Punchestown.

To win eight Grade 1 races is some achievement and I'd imagine Nichols Canyon will be back to try and win another Stayers' Hurdle, a race the Wylies have a special affinity for thanks to their successes in the race with Inglis Drever. He's very much a hurdler and I don't see him as a future chaser.

As far as Un De Sceaux is concerned we'll probably keep him to races from two miles to two miles and five furlongs, although we might be tempted to enter him for the King George at Kempton in December. He's a serious performer and, while he can be very keen, his Ryanair Chase win again showed he can pull out plenty at the end of his races. It was an extraordinary performance.

Members of the O'Connell family with Un de Sceaux after his win in the Ryanair ChaseCredit: Patrick McCann

winning the Grade 2 Mares' Novice Hurdle was huge for our staff, who will share the €50,000 bonus offered by Nathaniel Lacy and Partners who sponsored the Grade 2 race she won at Leopardstown in January.

She jumps well enough to go chasing, but I'd imagine we'll keep her to hurdles. She could be a contender for the Grade 1 Mares' Hurdle at the festival next year.

We had another two winners on Friday and this time it's Paul Townend who deserves all the plaudits. He gave Arctic Fire and Penhill brilliant rides to win the County Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett respectively.

I didn't expect Arctic Fire to win as he had been so long off the track. We were trying to get him ready for the festival and had a few little setbacks along the way. His owner Nick Peacock kept encouraging me to run him as he felt that even with top weight the handicapper had given him a chance.

Stepping Penhill up to three miles has made a big difference to him and I was delighted for his owner Tony Bloom.

Djakadam ran a good race in the Gold Cup for the third year in a row. Although he made a mistake at the second-last there were no excuses. He just wasn't good enough. We might have to consider different plans for him next season. I don't know at this stage.

Irish programme paying dividends

It was a brilliant festival for Irish-trained horses and, as in previous years, the results reflected what a good programme we have for horses in Ireland – not only the Grade 1s, but the other Graded races as well which cater for the middle-tier horses.

It encourages people to invest in Irish racing because of the good prize-money which, over the whole season, compares more than favourably with the situation in Britain where so many of the big prizes are handicaps.

Few enough owners buy horses for handicaps and want to have horses who might succeed in Graded races. We have a good structure to our season and a lot of our Cheltenham success is based on that structure.

Testing ground to suit Shoes

SUNDAY'S NAVAN AND LIMERICK RUNNERS

After all the excitement of Cheltenham, it's back to basics tomorrow when we have five runners split between Navan and Limerick.

We're represented in both of the Graded mares' races at Limerick, where Kate Appleby Shoes goes in the 2m6f Grade 3 mares' novice hurdle (2.20) and Daisy's Gift tackles the Grade 2 mares' novice chase over 2m6½f (4.00).

Kate Appleby Shoes, a fine big daughter of Flemensfirth, won a bumper over the course by 28 lengths and got off the mark over hurdles at Clonmel last month when beating Awayinthewest, who ran a good race in the mares' novice hurdle at Cheltenham on Thursday. She will enjoy the testing ground and trip. A chaser in the making, she looks to have a very good chance.

Daisy's Gift has been let down by her jumping and has fallen three times over fences. It's going to be tough for her as Slowmotion looks to have an outstanding chance at the weights and we're just hoping our mare puts in a clear round and earns some black type.

After disappointing a few times, Retour En France came good over fences when scoring by six lengths at Fairyhouse last month. She makes her handicap debut in the 3m novice handicap chase (4.20) at Navan. She's stepping up two furlongs in trip which we think will suit her and the testing conditions shouldn't be a problem. It looks a competitive contest, but she was good last time and if she can impove then she should be there or thereabouts.

Augustin put in a good performance to win a maiden hurdle at Naas in January on his first start of the season. He faces three rivals in the opener (2.10). He has another three furlongs to cover this time and we think that will suit. He's improving and we're expecting a big run.

Four Alfie, a seven–year-old by King's Theatre, makes a belated debut in the bumper (5.25). It's taken him a long time to mature but he seems to be in good form and we think the stiff track will suit.

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Willie Mullins

Tony O'HehirRacing Post Reporter

Published on 17 March 2017inComment

Last updated 15:34, 18 March 2017

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