TWO major storylines shaped the opening Grade 1 of the Dublin Racing Festival – Final Demand was beaten, and Mark Walsh proved why he first earned the role as J.P. McManus’ first jockey.
Walsh has remained quiet while the media and racing fans dissect the recent announcement that Harry Cobden will take over at the end of the season, but he let his riding do the talking when partnering Kaid d’Authie (5/1) to victory in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase.
Paul Townend set the pace aboard the 30/100 favourite, Willie Mullins’ top-class novice hurdle who was seeking a third win from three starts over fences. Walsh positioned stablemate Kaid d’Authie close to his tail and was there to take over when the favourite’s jumping faltered at several fences, eventually asserting with authority after Final Demand’s untidy leap at the second last.
Kaid d’Authie ran on strongly to lead by four and a quarter lengths on the line, as Gordon Elliott’s 12/1 shot Western Fold finished well in second, eight lengths clear of Final Demand in third. Jimmy Du Seuil, the outsider of the four-horse field, crashed out at the final fence.
Sunday was the second time that Kaid d’Authie had worn cheekpieces, the headgear having yielded a win over hurdles at the Punchestown Festival, and Mullins believe they were key again today.
“He showed me a lot at home,” the champion trainer reported. “I think just putting cheekpieces on today made a big difference; they brought out the sort of ability he showed me at home. He’s a horse that’s always been disappointing, for me, on the racetrack.
“Mark [Walsh] said the same; he only made one little mistake – that was the third last – and he said he was foot-perfect otherwise.”
The Brown Advisory Novice Chase is now a likely target for Kaid d’Authie, while there are more immediate concerns regarding Final Demand, with his trainer revealing: “Paul said he twisted a little bit in the air. I couldn’t see that and I didn’t see the head-on, so there might TWO major storylines shaped the opening Grade 1 of the Dublin Racing Festival – Final Demand was beaten, and Mark Walsh proved why he first earned the role as J.P. McManus’ first jockey.
Walsh has remained quiet while the media and racing fans dissect the recent announcement that Harry Cobden will take over at the end of the season, but he let his riding do the talking when partnering Kaid d’Authie to victory in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase.
Paul Townend set the pace aboard the 30/100 favourite, Willie Mullins’ top-class novice hurdle who was seeking a third win from three starts over fences. Walsh positioned stablemate Kaid d’Authie close to his tail and was there to take over when the favourite’s jumping faltered at several fences, eventually asserting with authority after Final Demand’s untidy leap at the second last.
Kaid d’Authie ran on strongly to lead by four and a quarter lengths on the line, as Gordon Elliott’s 12/1 shot Western Fold finished well in second, eight lengths clear of Final Demand in third. Jimmy Du Seuil, the outsider of the four-horse field, crashed out at the final fence.
Sunday was the second time that Kaid d’Authie had worn cheekpieces, the headgear having yielded a win over hurdles at the Punchestown Festival, and Mullins believe they were key again today.
“He showed me a lot at home,” the champion trainer reported. “I think just putting cheekpieces on today made a big difference; they brought out the sort of ability he showed me at home. He’s a horse that’s always been disappointing, for me, on the racetrack.
“Mark [Walsh] said the same; he only made one little mistake – that was the third last – and he said he was foot-perfect otherwise.”
The Brown Advisory Novice Chase is now a likely target for Kaid d’Authie, with the J.P. McManus-owned gelding now 4/1 from 16/1 for the Cheltenham Grade 1.
Further investigation
There are more immediate concerns regarding Final Demand, with his trainer revealing: “Paul said he twisted a little bit in the air. I couldn’t see that and I didn’t see the head-on, so there might be some little niggle there that we are not seeing, but we might see it tomorrow morning.”
On his own view of Final Demand’s latest performance, Mullins commented: “I was just disappointed the way he jumped the second and third fence, and especially then coming down the back the second time, he missed another. When a horse does that in a race like that, he’s got to improve quickly and he didn’t, and to me, that was not good enough.”
With this week’s rain having seen Saturday’s fixture rescheduled to Monday, Mullins was asked whether testing ground was a possible reason for Final Demand’s disappointing effort.
After initially disagreeing, Mullins mused: “However, he was a little underwhelming at Christmas, so maybe it is. I just didn’t think he showed that enthuasiasm [today] that he usually shows.”