Riding any winner for Simon (Munir) and Isaac (Souede) is always a privilege but to be in the saddle for their first Grade 1 winner of the year - on such a promising horse like this one - was extra special. We've said goodbye to some of the older horses this season but we're having a great run at the moment and the future looks really bright.
I'll never forget Friday, I got a serious kick out of it and it felt as good as any big winner I've ridden before in all honesty. You don't get many chances like that and I might not get many more opportunities in Grade 1s for the remainder of the season.
Fair play to Paul (Townend), who rode a fantastic race on Ile Atlantique and showed some proper sportsmanship after the race as he was very happy for me. It's never easy being chinned in a Grade 1 but he was first to congratulate me and all of Willie Mullins' jockeys were exceptional to be fair.
On a wider point, all the riders in Ireland have really welcomed me into their system and they've been very kind to me over the years. I'm spending a lot of time in Ireland and it's a great thrill to be riding alongside some of the best in the business.
It took a lot of heart from Readin Tommy Wrong to get his head in front after the last, it was a monster effort from my horse as I thought Paul gave his horse a very clever ride out in front.
The step up to two and a half miles obviously helped my lad and I think his future probably lies over three miles when jumping fences. But for now it sounds like Anthony (Bromley) and the team are thinking of sticking at this sort of trip which I fully support. He grew in confidence the longer the race went on and his jumping got better and better too so that bodes well.
I think he's still on a learning curve and only going to get better the more experience he gains, but for the moment I can see him remaining at two and a half miles.
He's only six, remember, and he'll handle better ground in the spring if he needs to as well, so I'd imagine after what was quite a hard race at Naas he'll be freshened up now and go straight to the Cheltenham Festival. He's a lovely horse.
🗣️"I thought Daryl rode a very cute race."@WillieMullinsNH has given us his verdict on all his runners @NaasRacecourse this afternoon, beginning with the winner of the Grade 1 feature, Readin Tommy Wrong ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QF4LL6dAEy
It was great to get another winner in Ireland on Saturday on Intense Raffles for Tom Gibney, who is the only one Simon and Isaac have with him. He was really good at Fairyhouse, jumping nicely out in front.
He had good form in France, he actually beat the ill-fated Iroko, who won at the Cheltenham Festival last year, before losing his way a little bit.
But full credit to Tom who has really transformed this horse and sorted him out. He's put on plenty of strength and he could be another exciting six-year-old for the team. His rating in Ireland was 117 which suggests he's starting off at the right end of the handicap and I genuinely think a good way down the road he could develop into a Welsh National horse, or even an Aintree horse with a bit of luck.
He reminds me a little bit of Terrefort, the way he jumps and the way he gallops, and Anthony will have a lot of fun picking out future targets for him. He's a laidback horse and was an absolute joy to ride the other day.
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Out with the Hood
Looking ahead to this week, Matata is expected to run in the Grade 2 Lightning Novices' Chase if Lingfield goes ahead on Friday. It looks like a good race based on the entries, it's a real corker and the course deserves that given the prize money on offer.
I'm looking forward to him again. He ran well at Cheltenham and although I was initially a little bit disappointed he couldn't regain his momentum after the mistake at the last, he was giving almost a stone to the winner and was beaten only a length at the line.
We might just declare him without the hood this time, he's worn it throughout his career as he's been so keen. We'll change things around and leave the hood off and see how he reacts. He's a very dynamic sort of horse and you've just got to let him roll and find a rhythm so it'll be interesting to see how he fares here as he actually gets weight from a few of these which will help.
He's another six-year-old and it just underlines that we've got a lovely bunch of young horses at the moment who are coming of age over the last year or so. It's really exciting for everyone involved.
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