Gentleman De Mee lined up for Punchestown festival after dominant win

Saturday: Navan

Cheltenham is not on the agenda for Gentleman De Mee, but Grade 1 glory at Punchestown is a possibility for the JP McManus-owned gelding after he dominated from the front in the feature Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase.

The French-bred had a clear lead most of the way and jumped quickly and accurately for Mark Walsh in beating Grange Walk by 16 lengths.

Comparisons with Great Field, who won the Grade 1 at Punchestown for the same owner and trainer with a similar style of racing in 2017 were easy to conjure up.

Trainer Willie Mullins said: "He's similar in the way he likes to get on with the job. Mark felt he settled a fair bit better today, especially after the first two fences.

"He's jumping better and settling into his game. The only real two-mile race for him now is the Grade 1 at Punchestown, if that wasn't there we might well step him up to two and a half miles for the Grade 1 at Fairyhouse."

Cromwell hitting form

After a quiet start to the year, Gavin Cromwell will be happy to see his horses coming back into form, and with a Cheltenham team headed by last year's festival winners Flooring Porter and Vanillier, an upturn in fortunes couldn't be coming at a better time.

Cromwell saddled a near 36-1 treble, including the two favourites in both divisions of the opening maiden hurdle, ridden by Luke Dempsey.

Neither was straightforward. Vera Verto needed every yard of the 2m trip to overhaul Douglas Dc in the first division, while odds-on favourite Global Export had to overcome even more adversity to land division two.

He was broadsided and almost knocked over by one of his rivals at the last hurdle in the back straight and also blundered at the second-last, but Dempsey kept him together to beat Evergreen And Red by five lengths.

"Like Dublin buses," joked Cromwell about the opening double, before confirming that both winners would contest a rated novice hurdle somewhere.

The treble was completed when the consistent Silvertown won for the first time over hurdles and just the second time in his career when landing the 2m4f handicap hurdle.

"I'm delighted to see him winning because he's been banging on the door," said Cromwell. "His owner, Derek Twiss, has been very patient with him. I thought he would have won a race well before now."

Results, replays and analysis

Watch the Racing Post Cheltenham preview show from 6pm on Sunday, March 6, live on the Racing Post YouTube channel. With expert opinion and top tips from guests including Tom Segal, Paul Kealy, David Jennings and Katie Walsh, it's the ultimate preview for the biggest four days of the year.