GRANDFATHER Paddy trained the only winner of both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup, and uncles Willie, Tom and Tony have all enjoyed success as trainers at Cheltenham in March, so it will have been a source of personal pride for Emmet Mullins to have won such a prestigious race as the Greatwood Hurdle to follow in those famous family footsteps.

The Shunter was well placed by Mullins to win this off bottom weight, and the trainer made sure Robbie Power missed a few meals to do the weight.

He made the most of the 26lb he received from top-weight and runner-up Ballyandy (Nigel/Sam Twiston-Davies) to become the first Irish-trained winner of the Greatwood since Sizing Europe.

The runner-up travelled strongly just off the pace and was produced to lead turning for home; he was still in front at the last, but the big weight difference began to tell, and he was beaten by three lengths at the line.

Favourite Tegerek (Jonjo O’Neill/Kevin Brogan) ran well, but couldn’t pick up out of the testing ground as well as the winner, and finished a head behind Ballyandy in third.

The winner was backed into 13/2 fitted with a tongue tie for the first time, reflecting his trainer’s confidence, and produced a career best.

He’s not been with Mullins long having been picked up by the yard’s principal patron Paul Byrne from John Clifford, for whom he raced 18 times without success.

Byrne clearly has an eye for a bargain, and while The Shunter has improved since catching the eye of the stewards in a maiden hurdle at Tipperary in July, this victory was an example of connections spotting an excellent opportunity, switching back to hurdles after a couple of chase runs, and taking advantage of his low weight on ground which many of the runners struggled to cope with.

Always a Pleasure

The Grade 2 SkyBet Supreme Trial resulted in an all-the-way win for the Alex Hales-trained For Pleasure, who had looked unsteerable at Kempton (behind Fidelio Vallis) but got back on track going left handed.

He put his experience to good use, jumping well aside from a mistake at the second last, and while he looked a sitting duck for favourite Third Time Lucki (Harry/Dan Skelton), he kept on surprisingly well considering the strong gallop he’d set, and the 14/1 shot had three and three-quarter lengths to spare where it mattered most.

This is not easy form to work out, with the winner probably helped by being left alone in front, but he set an overly strong gallop in racing alone, and it’s possible to argue that he’s significantly better, or worse, than the bare result.

Similarly, the runner-up may have done too much in chasing the winner down before the last, and had nothing left to give after a mistake there, so definitive conclusions are best left until further down the line.