Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3)

J.P. McMANUS had enjoyed a Cheltenham Festival like no other this week and his stranglehold on the meeting’s handicap hurdles continued as the heavily backed Saint Roi led home a Willie Mullins one-two-four to give the trainer a fifth win in 11 years in this tremendously competitive affair.

A first Cheltenham Festival winner for the McManus-Mullins alliance, Saint Roi came here off a somewhat unusual preparation. He was beaten at odds of 1/3 in a Clonmel maiden hurdle on his Irish debut in December but then made amends at Tramore the following month and the ease of that success suggested that this five-year-old could yet make his presence felt in a good race.

After being kept under wraps since then, Saint Roi was returned a well-backed 11/2 favourite for a test that was entirely different to those that he had faced on his last two starts and he justified that confidence with some authority.

Cruised

After being held up off a strong pace by Barry Geraghty Saint Roi cruised into the reckoning as the runners began the long run to the last and at this point stablemates Buildmeupbuttercup and Aramon were both getting into the thick of the action.

It was one-way traffic from the final flight as Saint Roi left his rivals for dead to score by four and a half lengths. A back to form Aramon was second ahead of Joseph O’Brien’s Embittered.

In coming from a Tramore maiden hurdle to win a County Hurdle off a rating of 137, Saint Roi has shown a striking level of ability and it wouldn’t come as any surprise if he held his own at Grade 1 level before this season draws to a close.

“Barry was fantastic on the winner. I told him going out this horse’s last bit of work was wow. It was something different and I thought to myself this horse had improved some amount,” observed Mullins.

“All of mine arrived with fighting chances at the back of the second last and Saint Roi had improved the most from his last run and he won well.”