'It was a huge performance' - Jade De Grugy impresses Willie Mullins as she lands Grade 1 Honeysuckle Mares' Novice Hurdle

Paul Townend gave Jade De Grugy a typically polished ride as she defied a quick turnaround to beat stablemate Spindleberry to give Willie Mullins a third successive win in the 2m4f Grade 1 Honeysuckle Mares' Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

The Kenny Alexander-owned five-year-old lost her unbeaten record when finishing fourth behind Golden Ace in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham 17 days ago, but she relished the extra distance at Fairyhouse and was the subject of an assured steer from Townend.

Having gone off 7-4 favourite, Townend positioned Jade De Grugy in mid-division on the inside but she drifted slightly back in the field after the third-last. However, her rider never displayed a moment's panic as he kept quiet in the saddle and latched on to the heels of the front pack as they straightened up.

As her rivals began to flounder, Jade De Grugy was still travelling powerfully jumping the penultimate flight. Once asked for her effort on landing, however, the response was far from instantaneous and stablemate Spindleberry and the Jessica Harrington-trained Jetara were finding plenty in front.

She still had two lengths to find jumping the last but landed with impetus and began to blast home once Townend subjected her to maximum encouragement, leaving Spindleberry two and a quarter lengths behind, while Jetara was another three lengths back in third as the front three pulled 15 lengths clear.

Jade De Grugy and Paul Townend after winning the Honeysuckle Mares' Novice Hurdle at FairyhouseCredit: Patrick McCann

Mullins was particularly impressed with how the winner produced a Grade 1-winning performance having contested Cheltenham just over a fortnight ago. He said: "It was a huge performance coming back from Cheltenham, she's very tough. Paul didn't think he was going well a lot of the way but it shows what sort of engine she has. 

"It's tough luck on Spindleberry. I thought she had it won at the last but as we saw yesterday, some of the races were won and lost between the last hurdle and the winning post. She showed how good and how tough she is, and it was a great run from the runner-up as well.

"She does look like a two-and-half mile mare, coming back from Cheltenham, to put in a run like that. A lot of the Cheltenham horses haven't featured at this meeting and I think it's a tough ask on that ground. It'll be Punchestown next I'd imagine.

"We didn't find out or look for anything at home since Cheltenham, it's a Grade 1, so you have to take your chance. This is the race you want to win rather than Cheltenham because it's a Grade 1. You always want to win Grade 1 rather than a Grade 2."

The success capped off a special couple of days for connections, given the most famous mare to race in the pale blue and white silks, 13-time Grade 1 winning Honeysuckle, gave birth to her first foal just over 24 hours before Jade De Grugy landed the race named in her honour.

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