Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup: Galopin Des Champs shines again

For a stride or two going to the last the 3/10 favourite looked to be in trouble as he came off the bridle alongside the leader Fury Road.

He was neater than his rival at that fence and then the turbo kicked in, the winner dispelling any stamina doubts as he came clear to score by eight lengths.

Galopin Des Champs' stablemate Stattler (11/2) stayed on to take second.

Sky Bet left the winner unchanged at 6/4 for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup but Paddy Power eased him out to 7/4 from 11/8 and Betfair 15/8 from 13/8.

“He was very professional and Paul was happy where he was throughout the race,” said winning trainer Willie Mullins. “He was happy that he was settled coming through. He said after the race that he had plenty in the tank and he was never worried at any time during the race about where he was.

“He seemed to gallop away through the line. He looks a real good horse. Hopefully we can build on that now over an extra two furlongs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

“I was amazed that the press were doubting the fact that he had never won over three miles over fences. He had won over three miles as a novice over hurdles which is way harder than doing it over fences. To me, he can go four miles.

“What I love about him now is that he’s settling, he’s not keen and Paul is able to put him wherever he wants him in a race. That’s crucial for tactics going forward. He used to be a little keen over shorter trips, but now he just settles and he’s able to put him asleep. I think it’s just maturity, he’s matured in his mind and he’s settling into being a proper racehorse.”

He went on: “We’re more relaxed training him now, we know he has gears. I was always confident that he’d stay and we probably don’t do as much speed work with him nowadays.

“We’ve had some fabulous horses win the Gold Cup here. This fella is making a name for himself, he’s still young in steeplechasing terms and where he’ll be at the end of his career, we’ll see. It’s all going forward at the moment anyway.

“A lot of people skip this race to go for Cheltenham, but for me any day you can win an Irish Gold Cup it needs to be done. There is a nice time frame from now until Cheltenham, we’re going to celebrate and enjoy today.

“It’s all about getting there now. I suppose Conflated didn’t appear here today, he’s going to go to Cheltenham a little bit fresher but we’re probably going to go there a little bit fitter and it’s all to play for. We have this in the bag and we’re very happy to have won an Irish Gold Cup with him.”

On Stattler he said: “He ran a cracker, I thought he was going to fade out of it but he stayed on again to be second. I think Patrick (Mullins) has booked his ride in Cheltenham.

“Ronnie (Bartlett, owner) was very happy with that and we’re all very happy with how he ran. He was up there, jumping fantastic, and making the running. It was a hard thing to do and then stay on again to be second, it was a great run.”

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