Galopin Des Champs takes the Irish Gold Cup (Breandán Ó hUallacháin)
By Breandán Ó hUallacháin
The Cheltenham Gold Cup race favourite Galopin Des Champs won the feature race on Day 1 of the Dublin Racing Festival in Ireland on Saturday.
The French-bred seven-year-old gelding claimed an eight-length success in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, his final run prior to the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Trained by perennial Irish Champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins, and ridden by his main stable jockey Paul Townend, Galopin Des Champs travelled well throughout the 3 miles 44 yards race, before making his challenge approaching the home stretch.
His main challenge came from one of his stable companions, Stattler, who eventually finished in the runner-up position. The Gordon Elliott-handled Fury Road finished in third, three-quarters of a length behind Stattler.
“It was a good performance,” Paul Townend said post-race. “I loved the way he went through the line to be honest. I hadn’t committed off the bend, and I love when I gave him a flick (of the whip) what he did from there to the line.”
The win was a 12th success in the race since 1999 for Willie Mullins and was the final leg of a Grade 1 opening-day treble for the Closutton, County Carlow-based trainer.
Mullins trained five of the eight runners that went to the starting line for the Grade 1 Goffs Irish Arkle Steeplechase over 2 miles 1 furlong. His pre-race morning line favourite Appreciate It could only manage third place, however, as another Mullins representative, the French-bred El Fabiolo, ridden by Daryl Jacob, was a dominant ten-length winner of the €150,000 contest.
Former Breeders’ Cup-winning rider and trainer Joseph O’Brien produced the runner-up in Banbridge. The son of Doyen was ridden by JJ Slevin and they had a nose to spare over Mullins’ race favourite Appreciate It.
“He jumped great – bar the mistake I made on him, but that wasn’t the horse’s fault,” said Daryl Jacob in an honest assessment of the race. “I thought they were coming, and he just kept picking up all the way from the turn. He jumped the last and he picked up again from the last. There was no hiding place. This was one hell of a race today,” Townend added.
In the Grade 1 Donohue Marquees Spring Juvenile Hurdle over 2 miles, another Mullins favourite was beaten, the previously unbeaten three-time winner Loosiemouth. It was some consolation for the Irish handler, however, as another of his string, Gala Marceau, in the colours of Kenny Alexander and ridden by frequent USA jumps racing visitor Danny Mullins, won by two and a half lengths. The 1/3 favourite Loosiemouth was second home, having been badly hampered by another of her stable companions, Jourdefete, as they travelled down the back stretch.
The winner rider Danny Mullins said of Gala Marceau: “She was good. She was entitled to give Lassiemouth a run from what we had seen at Christmas (where she was half a length second to Lassiemouth). It was nice to reverse the tables. We won the battle, but the war will still be on.”
Owner and trainer Barry Connell won the other Grade 1 on the opening day of the Dublin Racing Festival, the Nathaniel Lacy & Partner Solicitors ‘€50,000 Cheltenham Bonus For Stable Staff’ Novice Hurdle over 2 miles 6 furlongs and 27 yards.
“We were expecting that,” the winning owner said confidently. “He came here to Leopardstown at Christmas. He was a course and distance winner. He never came out of a canter (that day) and hasn’t missed a beat since then. We were very confident today. He’s a quick horse. It couldn’t have gone better.”
The Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown Racecourse in Co Dublin, Ireland, is a two-day festival hosting eight Grade 1 contests among its 15 races this weekend. It is the final major European jumps racing meeting before the Cheltenham Festival in England next month.
