Glenfarclas Chase

THERE comes a time when every champion has to relinquish their crown and that moment arrived for Tiger Roll as he had to give best to the emphatic French-trained winner Easysland who was making his first start in the J.P. McManus colours.

Under the care of former leading French National Hunt rider David Cottin, the six-year-old came here on an unbeaten run of six races which featured an impressive success at this track in December. Once again the 3/1 shot displayed a terrific aptitude for the demands of this unusual test and just as adept was jockey Jonathan Plouganou while the testing ground proved no problem to the son of Gentlewave.

Easysland took control of this race some way from home and not long afterwards the outcome looked as though it would concern him and Tiger Roll who moved into a menacing position from about the tenth last obstacle. Gordon Elliott’s misgivings about the ground for Tiger Roll were borne out in the closing stages as his charge got to within a couple of lengths of the winner nearing the last but no closer.

Indeed the defending champion finished 17 lengths behind the French horse who maintained a relentless gallop to the line. Tiger Roll’s stablemate Out Sam was a further 18 lengths back in third. Easysland became the first French-trained winner at this meeting since Moulin Riche in 2005.

“It’s always disappointing when you are beaten but he’s run well and he’s run his heart out as he always does. The main thing is that he comes out of this race in good shape and we’ll kick on for Aintree,” was Gordon Elliott’s reaction to the effort of Tiger Roll.

Elsewhere the winning trainer commented: “It was a really big advantage to have come here in December and to know the track. The heavy ground was also in his favour. This was his best performance to date and he is still improving. He will now have a holiday but he will stay in this type of racing and come back here next season.”

Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Grade 3)

GORDON Elliott’s decision to field five runners for this race and his belief that each member of the quintet was capable of a big run was borne out in style as Aramax led home a one-three-four for the trainer.

A fourth winner on the day for J.P. McManus, Aramax was ridden by Mark Walsh and he was emulating last year’s winner Band Of Outlaws by building on a victory in a rated hurdle at Naas early last month. This son of Maxios didn’t get his Irish career off to the best of starts when falling at Leopardstown over Christmas but his steady progression in two runs since then suggested that he was a leading player for top honours.

Throughout the race the 15/2 chance was well positioned and he was still going nicely for Walsh when he loomed up to tackle stablemate Saint D’Oroux at the last flight where another Elliott runner, Recent Revelations, held every chance. Aramax produced a quick jump at the last to set off in front on the climb for home. Night Edition, trained by Elliott’s great friend David Pipe, came with a strong late charge but his effort came up a length short. There was a further three-length gap back to Saint D’Oroux.

“I was very worried about the ground for the winner but he handled it well and all of mine have run well there. The horses have been flying all week. We’ve had three winners and a lot of placed horses so I could not have asked for any more,” observed Elliott. “Obviously I’ll have to talk to J.P. and Frank (Berry) about where he goes next but there’s nice races for him at the likes of Fairyhouse and Punchestown and I’d hope we’d have a nice team for the juvenile races at both meetings.”