Willie Mullins adds £50,000 to prize-money tally as Paul Townend secures Listed double

Paul Townend sealed an important Listed double for Willie Mullins in the trainers’ title race aboard Kiss Will and Fun Fun Fun.

Mullins added just over £50,000 to his prize-money tally in Britain in the two main races on day one of the track’s three-day festival.

The H O S Syndicate-owned Kiss Will bounced back from finishing a well-beaten seventh in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham last month with a dominant success by four and a quarter lengths over the Dan Skelton-trained Royal Infantry in the 3m novice hurdle. Stablemate You Oughta Know finished fourth.

Townend said: “I can’t figure out what happened to Kiss Will at Cheltenham. It was too bad to be true, but he travelled really well here and coped with the trip. He could have a bright future. It was a big field and there was depth to the race.”

Fun Fun Fun led home Paggane in a 1-2 for Mullins in the 3m mares’ chase. The Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned seven-year-old justified odds-on favouritism by four lengths.

Townend said: “Fun Fun Fun made harder work of it than I was hoping. She was a bit more relaxed, but there was plenty in the locker when I needed it.”

• Title race: Dan Skelton hits back with double but Willie Mullins poised to pounce after slashing rival's advantage at Perth 

On the scoresheet

Dan Skelton fought back in the title race courtesy of 2m handicap chase winner Etalon.

The Suzanne Lawrence-owned eight-year-old improved on his recent fourth at Ayr to score by 19 lengths under Harry Skelton.

Etalon gives the Skeltons a much-needed win in the trainers' title race with this easy successCredit: John Grossick

The winning rider said on Racing TV: "He's not had the greatest winter but he's brought it all together when needed. We need every penny we can get."

Day to remember

Emma Brown rode her first winner aboard the Jackie Stephen-trained Billable Grant in division two of the 3m amateur riders' handicap hurdle.

In-form trainer

Adam Nicol saddled a fourth winner from his last six runners when Feach Amach gained back-to-back wins under conditional Joshua Thompson in the 2m4f mares’ handicap hurdle, scoring by a length and a half.

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.