Irish Eyes Are Smiling As Mullins Lands The Big One And Elliott Enters Record Books
Total On Top In Ladbrokes Trophy Thriller
Saturday saw the latest edition of one of the very best handicap contests of the season take place at Newbury. Known to just about everyone in the racing world as the Hennessy Gold Cup, this year saw Ladbrokes take over sponsorship with the contest now rebranded as the Ladbrokes Trophy.
The new sponsors could hardly have hoped for a better start as the race graced by the likes of Arkle and Denman over the years produced a thriller in 2017. Barring the dual success of the incomparable Arkle, the Irish had surprisingly taken this only once in the races history. In recent Munster National winner, Total Recall, they had the favourite this year, but once Nicky Henderson’s, Whisper, hit the front it looked as though the prize would be staying on home soil again. Paul Townend and Total Recall had other ideas though as the eight year old son of Westerner pulled out all the stops to get up by a neck.
Elliott Electric At Fairyhouse
The pick of Sunday’s action came over in Ireland as the County Meath venue of Fairyhouse laid on a top class card. For the first time in history, the day’s three Grade 1 contests were all mopped up by the same trainer, as the current leader in the race to be Irish Champion trainer, Gordon Elliott, swept all before him. First up came the emerging star that is Mengli Khan in the Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle. A winner of both starts over obstacles to date, he made it three from three here, handling the step up into Grade 1 company with the minimum of fuss. The JLT Novices Hurdle would seem this ones most likely Cheltenham Festival target, a race for which he was trimmed from 16/1 into 7/1 by Coral.
Leg two of Elliott’s top tier treble came with what was undoubtedly the standout performance of the day, as the five year old mare Apple’s Jade put the field to the sword in the Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle. Successful by just a head from Let’s Dance here 12 months ago, she was back to something like here brilliant best here in slamming Stayer’s Hurdle winner Nichols Canyon by nine lengths. Coral now make her a 7/4 shot from 5/2 for the Mares Hurdle at the Festival.
With Death Duty rounding off the day when taking the Bar One Racing Drinmore Chase by 3 ¼l from Rathvinden, this was certainly a day to remember for the man based nearby in Longwood, County Meath. Now over £400,000 ahead of Willie Mullins in the Trainers Championship, can Elliott hold on this year, having been denied only on the final day of the season last term?
Douvan Set For Take Off Again
Looking ahead to the coming weekend, we may well be in for another cracker as the horse often referred to as an aeroplane, Douvan, makes his eagerly awaited return from injury in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag for stars returning from injury so far this season, with Faugheen looking as though he had never been away, but Thistlecrack a world away from the horse who won last season’s King George so well. Also going in the Rich Ricci colours, let’s hope Douvan is more Faugheen then Thistecrack on Saturday. Elsewhere, we get our first glimpse of the Grand National fences of the 2017-18 season as the contender’s – headed by Nigel Twiston-Davies, Blaklion – line up for this years Becher Chase.
