A star is wonderfully reborn as Faugheen delights Dublin with his titanic win

The noise they made, the sight they saw, the horse he is.

There have been days when we would have talked about the horse he was, yet here on a wonderful afternoon at Leopardstown came glorious proof that a marvel of modern jumping remains a superstar in the present tense.

One might even say it looks now rather as though anything Faugheen achieved over hurdles was a bonus.

It was five years ago that the white-faced giant won the Champion Hurdle, sprinting off Cheltenham's final bend and propelling himself to immortality.

Watch the fantastic Faugheen thriller

Much has happened since then, some of it good, some of it bad, but a horse now 12 years young has been reinvented as a chaser, one who displayed class and courage in abundance to give Dublin's racing home one of its most memorable moments.

Faugheen just holds off Easy Game at the end of the Flogas Novice ChaseCredit: Alan Crowhurst

He is a horse to cherish but a horse who could so easily have been lost at this racecourse last winter. As he lay on the ground after a crashing fall at the penultimate flight of the Christmas Hurdle, we feared the worst.

That he rose to his feet was enough of a gift. Nobody could have expected what would take place the day Faugheen returned to Leopardstown.

What occurred in the Flogas Novice Chase sent those who packed the grandstands into rapture. It left Joe Chambers, racing manager to owner Rich Ricci, in tears.

Ricci was more successful in maintaining some composure but he was plainly overcome with delight, as was Willie Mullins, who had just seen Faugheen fight out a furious finish with his stablemate Easy Game.

The champion trainer, lest there be any doubt, had been a long way from impartial.

"I was praying for Faugheen, so I was," said Mullins, responsible for the first four home. "The two of them had been running and jumping fantastic, but I wanted Faugheen to win in a big way. I would have been gutted if he had been beaten.

"Coming here I was worried he would have a bad fall or get injured, or something like that, but he came up trumps. It's fantastic.

"I thought our other horse was going to beat him coming up the stands' rail, where the ground was probably better, but Faugheen dug deep."

Faugheen and Paul Townend take a fence during the Flogas Novice ChaseCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He has regularly dug deep since his debut victory in a maiden point-to-point at Ballysteen in April 2012. Since then there have been 11 Grade 1 triumphs, most of them under Ruby Walsh, most of them over hurdles.

This season, however, Mullins and Ricci decided to send Faugheen over fences. At Limerick last time he left Samcro waving a metaphorical white flag. This time he had already seen off another Gigginstown young buck, Battleoverdoyen, when that rival fell at the final fence.

Patrick Mullins had the pleasure of partnering 'The Machine' at Limerick. This time that pleasure was passed to Paul Townend, whose mount received admiring pats from defeated jockeys Robbie Power and Mikey Fogarty just after the line. To have been so close to greatness and not have made the gesture would have been positively rude.

Paul Townend is congratulated by Mikey Fogarty (right) and Robbie Power (left) after winning the Flogas Novice Chase on Faugheen at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"I'm delighted with that," said Ricci. "It was magic, super, fantastic. Golly, Faugheen was brilliant. It's spectacular for all the people here."

Yet he had not been bullish beforehand. "I just arrived here thinking if he came home in one piece it would be grand," admitted Ricci. "I was a bit sceptical but the yard was confident and the horse was on song."

The horse was also doing something 12-year-old horses are not supposed to do. Mullins knows he has switched Faugheen to fences a little late – but better late than never.

"I should have done it last year but I got sidetracked," he said. "I then didn't want to retire him without going over fences because that's what we bought him for. Now just look what he can do at 12.

"He has got everything. He has stamina, he has speed and he can jump. He has got it all. He has got a will as well. He’s a bit like Un De Sceaux – every morning the two of them go up the gallop and they want to train, they want to get at the job."

Paul Townend lets out a roar as Faugheen wins the Grade 1 Flogas Novice ChaseCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The next job will be tackled at Cheltenham, where Faugheen has entries in three novice chases. Looking further ahead, it is comforting to remember Mac Vidi was once placed in the Gold Cup aged 15.

"I'm not going to answer," said Mullins, when asked to identify which race will be made Faugheen's festival target. "Today was the day. I said on the way here that today could be his Gold Cup. He has won, he has done it and we're going to enjoy it."

Enjoy it and enjoy him. Given a new lease of life over fences, one of racing's most special stars has been gloriously reborn.

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