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“It looks good for Willie Mullins as they race around the house,” said Leopardstown commentator Jerry Hannon.
I was not wrong.
Former winner Kemboy and stablemate Cantaloupe had led the strongest Savills Chase field in recent memory a joyous dance to that point and, with just one hurdle to jump on the straight, there was a gap back to the well-chained pursuers, led by the stablemate. Allaho with Cheveley Park Stud Second Choice Silks.
Another runner from Mullins, Tornado steering wheel, he fought away in fifth but in front of him BYE – Cheveley Park’s front line – was starting to move in the hands of grade one rookie Darragh O’Keeffe.
The ending, not unheard of for this mid-winter show, was poignant, Kemboy fingered last and was again challenged by Melon, who fought hard under his belt and only started running empty in the last dozen strides.
But A Plus Tard wasn’t running out of anything and, having been beaten for more than two miles on his comeback after signing last year to a solid third place for Min at Ryanair Chase during the extended two-and-a-half at Cheltenham, seemed to improve. for the return to three.
Delta Work had beaten him well to a grade one rookie on his only previous attempt at the distance, but he was five at the time and will be seven at the end of this week.
Bigger, stronger and rarely encountering a hurdle with the wrong step (he has never failed to complete in 15 starts over hurdles), this was a reasonably bold statement in terms of the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup, without being entirely convincing. .
With nine previous Grade One winners in a 14-man field comprised of horses scoring 152 or higher, it was always going to have a significant impact on the antepost image, and when the dust settled at the end of a hectic afternoon, The general consensus was that the big winner on Monday was a 10/1 shot for the big one in March (having been 66/1 at the start of the game).
Leopardstown and Cheltenham’s New Course are both left-handed, but the similarities don’t extend much beyond that with the Irish venue much more suited to speed-oriented jumpers. And here we have a horse that beat Chacun Pour Soi in two miles and a furlong at Leopardstown last Christmas.
However, he is not simply a specialist in the fields and, in addition to the evidence from Ryanair, it is worth remembering that when he first appeared in Cheltenham in March 2019 he returned home after winning by 16 lengths.
There is no question that he is a player when it comes to the Gold Cup. if connections choose to aim for the race – and yet Minella Indoit’s early fall and Delta work unseating Sean Flanagan takes a small amount of sparkle out of the performance.
If Henry De Bromhead’s great white hope (Minella Indo was sent off as a 5/2 favorite here) is able to dust himself off and fight again in something like the Irish Gold Cup before March, then there must be a good chance that The ultra-patient coach seeks to keep them apart, with A Plus Tard poised for another shot at Min and company during the intervening trip.
He’s still 16/1 in places for that race, which is quite surprising given he just defeated Melon (12/1) and Allaho (14) and the grueling three and a quarter miles of Prestbury Park remains anyone’s guess.
As for reigning champion Al Boum Photo, Mullins, who finished second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh, can only have been driven by this result.
The stable star is also heading to a Savills (New Years) Chase, but the grade three version of Tramore on Friday won’t be as competitive.
Mullins won’t mind, of course – the path of least resistance is cunningly how he’s always liked it, and it’s clearly how he likes it with this particular horse.
Posted at 1545 GMT on 12/28/20
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