'He blew me away' - Mullins mightily impressed with Impaire Et Passe as trainer completes 1-2-3 in Ballymore

They say a week is a long time in politics but a day can be even more transformative in racing as, in the superlative Impaire Et Passe, Willie Mullins suggested he might have unearthed a potential solution to the Constitution Hill conundrum just 24 hours after the situation seemed rather hopeless.

A significant market mover for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle since the Cheltenham Festival preview circuit kicked off last month, Impaire Et Passe returned a 5-2 shot after Hermes Allen reclaimed 9-4 favouritism on the day. The winner justified the sustained support of recent weeks with a thoroughly impressive performance. Under Paul Townend, he readily dispensed with stablemates Gaelic Warrior, who made the running, and Champ Kiely, and Mullins found himself pondering whether the search for a worthy rival to the sensational Champion Hurdle victor might begin at home. 

"He looks special," the trainer said of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede's imposing five-year-old, in whom he even saw a resemblance to Constitution Hill. 

"I'm looking at him as a chaser, but you have to ask yourself now, would you stay hurdling? Yesterday I was telling Michael Buckley that we're going to have to go off and shop again to find one to beat Constitution Hill, but maybe we have one here. He is in the same sort of mould with his speed jumping and the speed he came up the hill, so maybe we have one."

Paul Townend: "He was a dream ride and it worked out brilliantly."Credit: Edward Whitaker

With Good Land taking fourth behind the Closutton 1-2-3 and Hermes Allen failing to figure when the race began in earnest after racing up with the pace, it was another humbling novices' event for the home team. The first eight home in the Supreme were all Irish-trained and El Fabiolo had accounted for Jonbon in the Arkle for the same owner-trainer-jockey combination, so that all has ominous implications down the line.

Both Gaelic Warrior and Champ Kiely gave their riders a torrid enough time of things hanging and pulling throughout the race, yet they were still far too good for the locals. 

The winner, though, took the breath away with his emphatic five-and-a-half-length triumph to extend his unbeaten record to four. Townend had sat just behind the pacesetters and, with Danny Mullins drifting off the rail, he got a gift of a run up the inside turning for home, same as he had in the Arkle. From there, Impaire Et Passe settled it in a matter of strides.

Coral introduced Impaire Et Passe at 5-1 for the 2023 Turners Novices' Chase, while William Hill make him 5-1 second favourite behind Constitution Hill for the Champion Hurdle and he is the same price for the Arkle.

 "The turn of pace he showed off that gallop, I was impressed," Mullins added. "I was looking at him coming to the last thinking, 'Now, Danny, don't pull in', but his horse was hanging right and Paul just said to himself that he'd get through, and he did. 

"What happened when he got through was what blew me away. The change of pace down to the last and up the hill – wow. That was his fourth run so there is huge improvement there."

The win was Mullins' sixth in the 2m5f Grade 1, and it was a second for Townend following Sir Gerhard a year earlier. Whether Impaire Et Passe will get the chance to emulate the stable's 2014 winner Faugheen in a Champion Hurdle or switch straight to chasing next term remains to be seen, although Mullins confirmed he would likely take in Punchestown next month first. 

Of the placed horses, he added: "Gaelic Warrior took out his earplugs on the way to the start and he didn't settle as well as [son] Patrick wanted him too, but Patrick said he could go up to three miles so he is a good strong chaser down the line. Champ Kiely surprised me by staying on so well. Danny said he hung terribly down the back – I don't know why he did that."

Townend, who is normally pretty reserved, was quite animated passing the line. He knew how expectation had begun to build up around the horse on the basis of what he had been showing at home since dancing up in the Moscow Flyer Hurdle at Punchestown in January, so the relief was palpable. 

"It's nice to ride a well-fancied one to win here," admitted the 32-year-old before referencing the persistent chatter in recent weeks. "It was like he was nearly talking himself at this stage! He was a dream ride and it worked out brilliantly.”

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