‘She was just deadly’ – perfect ten for Honeysuckle on Irish Champion Hurdle | Horse Racing News

The jury can withdraw. The case that was brought against Honeysuckle for failing to achieve enough to guarantee superstar status was settled once and for all at the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, as he provided vital evidence that declared the case null and void.

These two days at Leopardstown are the show jumping version of Ireland’s Got Talent and Honeysuckle got the perfect ten, an audition so good it earned him the direct gold buzzer to Champion Hurdle next month. Now he’s disputing favoritism with Epatante around 9-4 and with good reason.

The talk from Cheltenham can wait, first we have to give her second Irish champion steeplechase victory the words it deserves.

This was a honeysuckle that we had never seen before; a slicker, sharper, faster version of the one that came home to Hatton’s Grace in Fairyhouse in November. That was like a worker, this was wonderful.

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See: Honeysuckle wins the Irish Champion Hurdle for the second year in a row with brilliant display

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There aren’t too many positives to draw from empty enclosures and eerie silences in this modern Covid world of closed-door racing, but being able to hear the first thing a jockey says to a coach after disembarking is certainly one of them.

“That’s the smartest thing he’s ever been, Henry. He was so smart all the way,” Blackmore informed the winning coach.

There have been times when Honeysuckle has been a bit slow. Only two of her nine previous victories arriving here had been for minimal travel, so the main concern in addressing this was that she would be beaten.

Not only did that not happen, but the pace he showed by leaving the backstretch caused fast guys like Sharjah, Saint Roi and Abacadabras to come out of their comfort zone and at a much earlier stage than they are used to.

This ended long before they reached the final flight and the shoot was a glorified lap of honor for the wonderwomen of Irish racing.

Blackmore put together the dazzling display, saying, “She was just deadly and Henry just did an amazing job with her. She was so much smarter today than she was the last day. She was in class. She has a lot of rhythm and you do. whatever you want with her now.

“Today she was taking me there instead of me forcing her there. That’s every jockey’s dream when you can sit against them and they are jumping from one obstacle to another.”

For De Bromhead, the avowed pessimist, the prevailing sentiment afterward was one of relief.

We’ve been throwing bouquets of flowers at Honeysuckle and Blackmore for years, but the man who leads this incredible journey deserves a shower of superlatives too. For any trainer, getting a horse to win ten races in a row is extraordinary, but the last five of them have been Grade 1 races, making it an even more fantastic feat.

“There’s a lot of relief after that and I don’t feel as bad as ten minutes ago,” De Bromhead later admitted.

“She was brilliant. It was what we expected her to do and she did. Rachael was brilliant to her and she’s just kind. She’s lovely the way she picked up. She’s also not slow, and you could see the speed of her There. She jumped great and let me play the violin last. I’m very lucky to have Rachael. It’s just brilliant to have her on the team. “

So we can’t put off the Cheltenham talk any longer, Henry.

“We will enjoy today. We have won an Irish Hurdles Champion, which is amazing and we must appreciate that first,” he replied.

“I’ll have to talk to Kenny [Alexander] and peter [Molony], but you’d have to feel like we’d lean towards the Champion Hurdle after what he did there. In ratings, it would have been his best performance. Last season of Hatton’s Grace was pretty good too. She put in some really good ones, but that has to be up there.

“I am very lucky that she is normally in his game, but I felt like I had cut her a bit short for Fairyhouse in December and we didn’t want to do that here again.”