Impaire Et Passe maintains unbeaten record with easy Grade 1 win - but Mullins isn't too impressed

Champion trainer Willie Mullins found it hard to contain his disappointment with the performance from Impaire Et Passe, despite the fact he maintained his unbeaten record and landed his second Grade 1 victory by a margin of seven and a half lengths.

It was easy to see what Mullins meant though. For much of the race, the five-year-old did not travel with any sparkle. His jumping, so brilliant at Cheltenham and indeed before that, was sloppy and novicey for much of the way. 

He did gradually warm to his task under Paul Townend and his jumping improved too. In the end he did not have to be at his best to pick up and pull away from runner-up High Definition and stable companion Champ Kiely after the final flight. 

He remains the 10-3 second favourite for the Champion Hurdle with Paddy Power, but it would be hard to imagine many punters steaming in on the back of that performance. Indeed, Mullins was non-committal when asked if he would be trained next season with that race in mind.

“Would you have backed him turning in? Me neither,” Mullins said.

Willie Mullins: back-to-back Grade 1 wins on day fourCredit: Alan Crowhurst

He added: “He didn't impress me at all. I'm delighted he won, and by so far, but during the race he was not impressing me. He didn't look like he was enjoying it and maybe Cheltenham took much more out of him than we thought. At home he was on fire, and maybe I did too much with him because he was doing so well.

“I know it's hard to say something was wrong when he won by that much. He loved the hill at Cheltenham so much, he really got going, and maybe on this flatter track he was not as effective. I'll have a good chat with Paul about it, but he has a huge engine to win despite not looking like he was enjoying himself. We were thinking of going to France with him but we might have to think again about that.”

Runner-up High Definition was stepping up to this trip for the first time, and it certainly seemed to work a bit better. Going that bit slower did his jumping no harm and it took until after the final flight for the winner to see him off. He might have even been a small bit closer but for colliding with the running rail. 

Trainer Joseph O'Brien said: “He ran a great race. The winner is obviously a special horse and we're very happy with our horse. I'm not sure where we'll go next with him, we can make a plan over the next few weeks, but we're very happy with today.” 

Read these next:

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Mullins pondering Stayers' Hurdle route for Gaelic Warrior after impressive Punchestown performance  

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