LAST Sunday’s card at Fairyhouse contained three Grade 1 events with the powerful Willie Mullins/Ruby Walsh alliance combining to land two of the big races on offer.

 

Walsh really has one of the top jobs in racing given that he has the pick of the best horses from Paul Nicholls’ team in the UK and Mullins in Ireland and the Kildare rider is certainly making hay while the sun shines.

The former champion was seen at his brilliant best when dominating the Grade One Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase from the front aboard 2/1 shot Arvika Ligeonniere.

Off the track for 206 days, this French-bred set out to make all in the two and a half-mile event with Walsh setting a true test to his four rivals.
Tony Martin’s Dedigout went off even-money favourite for this €75,000 test but the Gigginstown House runner had no answer to the power-packed display of Arvika Ligeonniere, who made every post a winning one as he strode to an 11-length success over the market leader.

Make no mistake about it, this was a serious performance. The winner was almost a fence in front at one stage and the way he jumped the first four or five fences really set the tone for the remainder of the race. It could be argued that he beat a small field but the runner-up is regarded as a very good horse by his trainer Tony Martin, yet he didn’t get up for a look with the winner.

Not surprisingly, Mullins was excited by the display of the Rich Ricci-owned seven-year-old saying, “That was a super effort. He did it very well and his fencing was superb. This horse had a year off but that was just a little problem so we decided to give a good bit of time to come right. He has a huge cruising speed and dropping him back to two miles may be the route we’ll go with him”.

Arvika Ligeonniere’s next outing is likely to be in the Grade 1 Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown on St Stephen’s Day.

Mullins and Walsh also joined forces to good effect when taking the Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle with 7/4 joint-favourite Zaidpour.
This Red Ransom gelding also carries the Ricci silks and Walsh rode a different type of race aboard this fellow as he settled the six-year-old in third with stable companion So Young cutting out the pace.

Heading towards the final fence, Walsh produced Zaidpour on the outside and, once safely over the last, the pair flew home to beat the running on from the back Monksland by two and a half lengths.

The big disappointment of the race was Colm Murphy’s 7/4 joint-favourite Voler La Vedette. She faded out tamely in the closing stages, so much so that Murphy has opted to send his star mare for a breathing operation which may well account for her somewhat below-par display.

There was no taking away from the winner though and he looks like he’ll take high order in the major staying races this term. Interestingly, Mullins wasn’t ruling out the possibility of heading towards the World Hurdle at Cheltenham.

He said, “That was a fantastic performance. Zaidpour is a much stronger horse this season and while he has the pace to drop back to two miles, I imagine he’ll go up in trip and the World Hurdle would seem an obvious target. He’ll be entered in a host of races at Christmas and we’ll make a decision about where he’ll run nearer the time.”

While Mullins went on to make it a treble on the day with Outlander in the bumper, he did suffer a reverse when his 11/8 favourite Champagne Fever – who won his point-to-point at Quakerstown for Thomond O’Mara – was turned over in the Grade One Royal Bond Novice Hurdle.
The 2012 Cheltenham bumper winner was expected to add to his recent Cork maiden hurdle success in this €75,000 event, but he had to settle for the runner-up berth when outpointed late on by Jessica Harrington’s Jezki.

Barry Geraghty’s mount just had that little bit too much toe for Champagne Fever on the run-in as Harrington’s charge surged clear to beat the market leader by a length and a half.

The winner looks a classy sort and the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March appears a realistic target for the smart looking son of Milan.
Dessie Hughes has his team firing on all cylinders at present and his 8/11 favourite Our Conor earned a 14/1 quote for Cheltenham’s Triumph Hurdle following his easy success in the opening Grade 3 juvenile hurdle.

Bryan Cooper’s mount jumped really well all through and had plenty in reserve and he stayed on powerfully to fend off the challenge of runner-up Stockton’s Wing by two and a half lengths.
Meanwhile, the point-to-point season continues to attract big crowds and champion jockey Derek O’Connor kept his followers happy when riding two winners last weekend.

The nine-time champ travelled north to Saturday’s Loughanmore, County Down fixture where he was on the mark in the first division of the opening four-year-old maiden aboard 7/2 shot Unic De Bersy.

Trained by Colin McKeever for leading owner Wilson Dennison, Unic De Bersy cruised into contention on the run to the final fence and only had to be kept up to his work by O’Connor to beat runner-up Medieval Chapel by four lengths.

O’Connor was in action at the Tipperary Foxhounds session at Lisronagh near Clonmel on Sunday where, after a few frustrating near misses earlier in the afternoon, he bagged his 15th winner of the season aboard 6/4 favourite Crude in the second section of the concluding older horses’ maiden.
An ex-Gigginstown House horse, Crude is now owned and trained in County Sligo by Derek Pugh and the bay son of Flemensfirth made all the running en-route to a clear cut eight-length win over Rev Counter, who represents Tubber trainer Fintan Earley. 

Bobs Worth leaps to Gold Cup favouritism

NICKY Henderson had a bit of an up and down run so far this season, with quite a few of his fancied horses getting beaten, but 4/1 favourite Bobs Worth did the business for the Seven Barrows handler when running out a ready winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday.

Barry Gergaghty was on board the Bob Back gelding who hit the front on the approach to the final fence and the pair were not to be denied as they ran on strongly in the closing stages to beat the rejuvenated Tidal Bay by three and a quarter lengths.

Saturday’s effort was a good one by Bobs Worth, given that it was just his fifth start over fences and he had to lump the steady burden of 11-6 around the formidable Newbury fences.

Was it a Gold Cup winning performance is the burning question? It is easy to see why bookmakers were quick to install Henderson’s charge 5/1 favourite for chasing the Blue Riband in March given that he loves Prestbury Park, having won four races there to-date including last season’s RSA Chase, but supporting Bobs Worth at that price at this point hardly seems good value.

True he is an improving novice and, with the likes of Kauto Star now retired and Long Run failing to hit the heights of late, Bobs Worth is a worthy Gold Cup contender but a lot can happen between here and the festival next March.

While Paul Nicholls will have been pleased with the sparkle shown by Hennessy runner-up Tiday Bay, his trusty old warrior Big Buck’s continued his demolition job in the staying hurdle division when routing his rivals on his seasonal reappearance in the Sportingbet Long Distance Hurdle.

The ‘tank’ as Big Buck’s is affectionately known had no more than a routine exercise canter when bringing his unbeaten run over hurdles to 18 with a smooth effort under Ruby Walsh that saw the 1/12 favourite (the shortest price he’s ever started) stroll to a facile nine-length success over Reve De Sivola.

Ironically it was at this fixture back in 2008 that Big Buck’s fell at the last in the Hennessy with the race at his mercy, prompting Nicholls to switch the Stewart Family-owned stayer back to hurdles and, as they say, the rest is history.

Big Buck’s will have his next outing in the Long Walk Hurdle  at Ascot before Christmas and, even at this remove, it is very difficult to see the rising 10-year-old being denied his fifth World Hurdle in-a-row come Cheltenham Festival 2013 time.