Bachasson excels at Clonmel as racing draws to a close for the present

The announcement that racing was to be cancelled for the foreseeable future in Ireland came a matter of minutes after Bachasson recorded a performance reminiscent of his best in the feature 2m4f conditions chase.

The French-bred, a faller when last running over fences in the 2018 Gold Cup, had given notice that the ability was still there when sixth in the Coral Cup two weeks ago, and he proved it in spades here with a fine performance of galloping and jumping.

Once allowed to stride on in the second circuit, the 4-6 favourite winged his fences and Paul Townend did not lack the confidence to fire him at the last two fences.