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Warrior flops in Fact match

Three non-runners left Willie Mullins stablemates Gaelic Warrior (4/7 favourite) and Fact To File (6/4) as the only participants in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Novice Chase, a race won by Galopin Des Champs, Monkfish and Faugheen in recent years.

The last two were owned, like Gaelic Warrior, by Susannah Ricci and she, and husband Rich, have another smart prospect on their hands in the exuberant six-year-old but he failed to run his race, turning in a hugely disappointing performance on his return to racing left-handed.

On his toes in the paddock, it was no surprise to see Paul Townend give Gaelic Warrior his head and make the running but Fact To File and Mark Walsh drew alongside over a mile from the finish and weren't allowing the leaders to have it all their own way.

Gaelic Warrior made a slight mistake four out and Walsh opted to apply some pressure, taking Fact To File to the front and going three or four lengths clear. There was no response from the odds-on favourite as Fact To File pulled further and further away.

A tired looking Gaelic Warrior blundered at the last, ejecting Townend from the saddle, but the race was already over.

Fact To File finished second in last season's Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival and is in line to return to go one better with connections' decision to skip a season hurdling paying dividends.

Paddy Power make Fact To File their 2/1 favourite (from 4s, NRMB) for the Turners Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with former favourite Gaelic Warrior pushed out to 5/1. Sky Bet also make Fact To File 2/1 (NRNB) for the same race from 9/2.

Mullins said: “I hear Paul is alright. Something happened around the fourth-last, I don’t know what happened but it looked like if there were two or three others (in the race) he might have been pulled-up.

"He was (gassy beforehand), but that’s just him and I've not heard anything (about Gaelic Warrior's well-being).

"Fact To File is possibly just as good as we hoped. He always looked like he had a future ahead of him and he’s come out and doing everything over fences. He’s always shown me he’s good and I’m very happy. He’s only beaten the one horse but he’s done everything right today, I know the race fell apart but he was right there.

"Fact To File just has a snaffle on him, no noseband or anything, he’s so laidback and could you run him over all the trips. He’s got the temperament which is what you need with those three-mile chasers. From the day he came into the yard he was one I marked as ‘this could be anything’ and he’s doing everything right.

"I’ll have a word with JP (McManus) and Frank (Berry), I’d imagine it’ll be two and a half or three miles (at Cheltenham Festival), this week will tell us a lot.

“Grangeclare West couldn’t come which was a shame, I don’t know (exactly what’s wrong), we’re going to see in the next week but he couldn’t come here today which was unfortunate.”

Walsh added: “Going to the fourth-last I moved up to Paul with a good jump, kept him on the inside and he went by him easy.

“The plan was to put the pressure on three out, but I did it a fence early, it still worked. He put it to bed fairly quickly, he’s a fair horse.”

Speaking after winning the Irish Champion Hurdle aboard State Man, Townend said of Gaelic Warrior: "He raised too much of a gallop at times but I was beaten a long way out. He's not easy.

"But it was a two horse race and I'd say the winner is a very good horse."

Heart Wood comes of age

Heart Wood (6/1) benefited from some last fence drama when winning the O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase.

There were several chances approaching the final fence as one would expect in such a fiercely contested handicap but Perceval Legallois fell when alongside the winner as did the pacesetting Chavez although he looked held at the time.

That left the way open for Riaan and Heart Wood and it was the latter who took the race by the scruff of the neck to win by 14 lengths.

James Du Berlais, sent off the 4/1 favourite, was third, ahead of Cool Survivor and Good Time Johnny.

Heart Wood, ridden by Rachael Blackmore and trained by Henry de Bromhead, was winning for the first time over fences having shaped well when finishing second on all three starts (once in November 2022 and two in the same month of 2023) over the larger obstacles since arriving from France.

No match for Grangeclare West or Blood Destiny on his two starts this season, the switch to handicaps proved much more to his liking with the six-year-old ultimately running out an impressive winner.

The winning handler said: "Delighted with that, he was really good there. Rachael was brilliant on him. Delighted to win the O'Driscolls, Michael Stafford is a great supporter of ours and it's fantastic to win his race.

"I don't know about plan but you're making it sound like a good plan anyhow, it certainly looks like one now! He had a couple of nice runs and in fairness it seemed a reasonable mark. Delighted he's got his head in front today.

"We said we'd aim for today and we'll enjoy it."

Blackmore added: "It was great to get him to do that today. The owners have had to be very patient with him, he's had his problems. He's a really nice horse.

"Everyone got him back in good shape and we were very hopeful coming here today on the back of those two runs and he jumped and he travelled and it all unfolded well for him.

"I actually missed most of that (trouble); there were a few loose horses coming up around him but I actually had a lovely passage round. I think he's quite versatile, he's a very straightforward horse to ride and you could put him anywhere in a race."

Nice one Brucio

Brucio (20/1) emerged from the pack to deny an inspired Danny Mullins in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Paddy Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle, a Listed race over two miles and two furlongs.

Mullins, who starred on the first day of the Dublin Racing Festival, appeared to have stolen a march on his rivals when he entered the straight for the final time with a handy advantage aboard Minx Tiara (18/1).

However, her stride began to shorten dramatically going to the last and Brucio swept past her to win by six lengths for JJ Slevin and Stuart Crawford.

Minx Tiara held on for second, two and a quarter lengths clear of the strong finishing Feet Of A Dancer.

She, in turn, was five and a half lengths ahead of Media Naranja in fourth with 3/1 favourite Risk Belle only fifth in a race in which very few got involved.

The race has thrown up a handful of Cheltenham Festival winners in recent seasons and Crawford revealed a trip across the Irish Sea would come under consideration.

“We’ll have plenty of options, we’ll consider if she’s one for the mares’ novice at Cheltenham or one of the handicaps. I think she’ll handle nicer ground," he told Racing TV.

He revealed that the race panned out as they had hoped, saying: “It went exactly to plan. She jumped well, travelled well. There were a couple of hares in front and luckily she’s seen it out very well.

“She’s been steadily improving, she won a race in Catterick the last day and it was a good bit of placing by Anthony (Bromley, racing manager for owners Isaac Souede and Simon Munir). It gave her a good bit of confidence and once these mares start to improve. She was bought to be a good mare, she has a wee touch of class about her and she couldn’t have gone any better. It’s worked out well."

Winning rider Slevin said: “She tried hard, neither horse had much petrol left going to the last to be fair.

"I ended up getting a nice enough slot and she jumped well and travelled great. I tried to save a bit going to the last, she’s only a young filly and she’s on an upward curve.”

Lord springs 40/1 surprise

Lord Erskine (40/1) found extra reserves of stamina in the final yards to win the Timeless Sash Windows Handicap Hurdle.

For much of the straight it appeared as though there would be little to separate the principals in the Listed contest as the winner slugged it out with Magical Zoe and Zenta.

However with the line in sight, Lord Erskine found extra for jockey Darragh O'Keeffe to surge clear and win by three and a half lengths for trainer Harry Roger.

Magical Zoe, sent off the 5/1 joint-favourite alongside fourth home So Scottish, was second with Zenta third.

Rogers said of the 11-year-old who was winning for the first time in two and a half years: "They went a good gallop, that's why I stuck him into it, he needs a fast run race and he was well-in I thought when I seen the weights. I thought if the ground wasn't too deep I thought he had a chance and Darragh knows him and was very good on him.

"He's a proper little horse, he's been unlucky; we've been aiming for the amateurs' race at Galway the last two or three years but he couldn't get into it, wasn't high enough, and this was the first time he got into a good race off a light weight.

"Hopefully there's more in him. Ideally, if he can scrape into the amateurs' race at Galway and got his ground, he'd have a chance, he's a proper horse.

“His (late) owner Jerry Nolan was a pure gentleman. I rode winners for him and having an owner like him, you couldn’t buy them. He was easy to train for.”

A bumper weekend for Mullins

It would have come as no surprise to racegoers when the winner of the closing Coolmore N.H. Sires "Hurricane Lane" Irish EBF Mares I.N.H. Flat Race went to a mare trained by Willie Mullins, providing the trainer with his ninth success of the Dublin Racing Festival from only 15 races.

However, the name of the winner of the Grade 2 may have surprised one or two with Fleur Au Feusil (10/1) winning under Jody Townend with stablemate and 5/6 favourite Aurora Vega only fourth.

"She took a fair tug the whole way so to be able to gallop to the line like that, she must have a fair engine," said Townend.

"Like I said to the owners when I came in, I can't really say much she just runs away and keeps galloping! Once I hit the front turning the bottom bend she has dropped the bit for a while but she didn't get much of a chance to get a breather as the race was just starting then.

"She's so genuine, I know she's keen, but she really runs with her heart on her sleeve. When I won on her the last day, the way she hit the line impressed me and I'm just delighted to get the job done today."

When asked if she would like to ride the winner at Cheltenham, she replied with a smile: "I wouldn't say no!"

Mullins, however, would not be drawn on whether Townend would get the chance to ride the mare at the Cheltenham Festival with running plans up in the air but he was impressed with the winner.

"I was just looking at the sectional times and the fastest furlongs were the two in the middle where Jody ran away; that's twice now she's jumped off behind, ran away with Jody and still won," he said.

"She must have a great engine. Even Jody come in and said 'what happened there? How did she keep going?'"

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