Dame De Compagnie (left) wins the Coral Cup under Barry Geraghty

Cheltenham Festival day two review: Pick of the rest of the action including Dame De Compagnie winning the Coral Cup

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Wed March 11, 2020 · 5y ago

A round-up of the rest of the action from day two at the Cheltenham Festival including Dame De Compagnie landing a Coral Cup gamble.

Dame bosses Coral Cup

Dame De Compagnie justified strong market support in the Coral Cup to continue a golden start to the Cheltenham Festival for Barry Geraghty and Nicky Henderson.

With three Grade Ones already in the bag courtesy of Shishkin, Epatante and Champ, Henderson showed he is just as adept at getting one ready for a handicap.

The unexposed mare was sent off the 5/1 favourite on the back of an easy win in December, a race that later saw Henderson appeal the fact she was put up an extra 2lb due to collateral form. The panel found in his favour and she was allowed to run off her initial rating.

In the send she had two and a quarter lengths to spare over Gordon Elliott's Black Tears, with Thosedaysaregone third and Cracking Smart fourth.

Henderson said: "There is a long way to go to go, but you are getting into the realms of, 'I don't believe it' type of thing. You certainly couldn't believe Champ.

"She is a lovely mare this and she is tough. It is always a very competitive race, but she was very good. There wasn't that head-long Coral dash you normally get with a lot of horses flat to the boards, there were a lot of horses travelling and coming down the hill - anything could have won.

"To be fair we thought we had reasonable grounds to appeal and we did win it, but I'm not going to harp on about that as I don't want that to be the headline news. The handicapper thought (her rise) was fair, we thought it was a bit unfair and it saved us a couple of pounds which was probably quite important.

"In that sort of field you have to have a bit of luck and you have to be in the right place at the right time to get the breaks. She was good enough and she had the gears as well. She is a lovely, big mare and she would jump a fence, but she is tough and I think that is the main thing, you have to be in races like that."

Elliott takes it to the 'Max in Boodles

Trained by Gordon Elliott, Aramax (15/2) provided Mark Walsh with a first winner of the week in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

He appeared on the scene travelling very powerfully running down to the second-last flight - but had to be tough at the finish, as David Pipe's Night Edition was produced with a timely run by Tom Scudamore.

Elliott said: "I was very happy, Mark had a lovely bit of room the whole way and he jumped and did everything right. I was worried about the ground, but it is nice to win the race.

"This is a nice horse, that is going forward and the right way. We thought it was the right race to go for. He just does what he has to do, but we are very happy as he has won the race."

Nothing Hollow about Mullins' 10th Bumper win

Willie Mullins got off the mark for the week at the Cheltenham Festival when Ferny Hollow downed better-fancied stablemate Appreciate It in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

It had been a frustrating first two days to the meeting for Mullins, who hit the crossbar a few times and was forced to rule Chacun Pour Soi out of the Queen Mother Champion Chase on the morning of the race.

Paul Townend, riding as first choice jockey for Mullins in his own right for the first time this season, was also suffering, but he gave Ferny Hollow (11/1) a nerveless ride having been last in the early stages.

He met trouble in running coming down the hill as Patrick Mullins moved stablemate and favourite Appreciate It into the box position, but the market leader had no answer as Ferny Hollow powered home to win by two and a half lengths.

Mullins has now won the race 10 times, having struck first in 1996 with Wither or Which, a horse he rode himself.

Mullins said: "A goal on the stroke of half-time they are calling it here. It is nice get on the board anyhow. We just didn't get the bounce of the ball yesterday with one horse taking out another and it looked like we were a shade unlucky in the Mares' Hurdle, but they all ran well.

"Then there was Chacun Pour Soi this morning and though he will be fine in a few days, it was just bad timing. You just keep going and just hope it turns around. I thought Patrick had it won just after turning for home, but we could see Paul coming and he won quite easy in the end."

Odds-on backers had their fingers burnt by Ferny Hollow on his first two bumper starts, but he rewarded those who kept the faith on his third outing at Fairyhouse last month.

Mullins added: "He just ran too free on his first two runs and putting a hood on him has changed him, as have more drastic tactics in holding him up. He is lovely at home, but he takes a pull. In a race he gets a little bit upset so I think jumping will suit him a lot better.

"We will probably go for the Champion Bumper at Punchestown now and maybe the same for the other horse, Appreciate It."

Patrick Mullins made no excuses for the beaten favourite, saying: "My horse is a beautiful horse to ride. He just got beat by a better horse on the day as everything went right for us.

"Going forward he is one to look forward to. I think he can go two and a half to three miles no problem, but he is not slow either. I'd imagine in the future he will be running over two and a half miles plus."

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