LEOPARDSTOWN

CHRISTMAS CHASE

(GRADE 1)

A RACE that threw the Gold Cup division wide open saw Road To Respect stake a striking claim for top honours in the staying sphere as Noel Meade’s charge headed a Gigginstown House Stud tour de force in the highlight of the meeting.

A Gold Cup winner in Sizing John, the supremely talented Yorkhill and a host of proven Grade 1 winners made for a cracking renewal of this three-mile affair where centre stage went to Road To Respect. The biggest winner of jockey Sean Flanagan’s career, this six-year-old was among five runners for Gigginstown and the quintet nearly completed a clean sweep in filling five of the first six placings.

Beforehand Sizing John looked to boast impeccable credentials as he chased a fifth straight Grade 1 triumph but the odds-on favourite was found to be clinically abnormal post race after finishing a laboured seventh. Meanwhile, Yorkhill finished a place further back in eighth and indications afterwards were that he would be dropping back in distance.

All this means that the Gold Cup is firmly up for grabs but Noel Meade can certainly look towards chasing’s holy grail with some optimism after his young and improving charge produced the performance of his life. Any concerns that three miles was beyond him were dispelled by this effort as he bested a resurgent Balko Des Flos who is yet another Galway Plate winner to have bridged the gap to top three-mile chases.

The race itself made for fascinating viewing as Yorkhill moved to the front at an early stage and then cut out a searching gallop that had a number of his rivals in trouble a long way from home. A mistake five out from Yorkhill didn’t seem to cost him all that much momentum and he jumped the third last in a share of the lead with Balko Des Flos.

INTO CONTENTION

At this point Djakadam was struggling and Sizing John gave the impression that he was in some difficulty whereas Road To Respect was inching his way into contention. After the second last Yorkhill cried enough and the Gigginstown battalion asserted as Balko Des Flos led them into the straight with last year’s shock winner Outlander in hot pursuit.

Road To Respect then improved from a closing third to jump to the front at the last and, having first dealt with Outlander, he kept on determinedly to defeat a rallying Balko Des Flos by a length and a quarter. Outlander took third with Minella Rocco securing fourth ahead of Valseur Lido who shaped up nicely on his first start for a year.

“Everything went exactly to plan. He settled very well in the hood and fair play to Sean, it was his idea to put the hood on him to help him settle,” exclaimed a delighted Meade, who was winning this race for the fourth time. “Sean has given him an absolute peach and since he took over from Paul (Carberry) at our place he has just gone from strength to strength and he’s riding with so much confidence.

“We came here very hopeful and he showed he was in terrific form at Fairyhouse last week so I was hoping that he might bridge the gap of ten pounds or so which he needed to win a race like this. Obviously he’s in the Gold Cup picture now and I’ll speak to Michael and Eddie (O’Leary) as to what we do before then.

“If he is to run before Cheltenham the Unibet Irish Gold Cup back here in early February is the race he would run in but that’s by no means certain yet and that race would also be an option for Disko. We also know that he acts well around Cheltenham as he won there last March,” continued Meade.

As he basked in the aftermath of a memorable success, Sean Flanagan added: “When he ran up in Down Royal he just did a bit too much and didn’t get home but he did everything right today and the way he settled there another couple of furlongs wouldn’t be a problem for him. We went some gallop and I was flat out down the back but he’s done everything right and it worked out perfectly.”

Henry de Bromhead expressed himself delighted with the efforts of Balko Des Flos, who belied his position as one of the 66/1 outsiders, and the returning Valseur Lido.

“He’s run a brilliant race and he got some ride from Andrew Lynch too. I think that better ground is quite important to him as his disappointing runs all seem to be on heavy ground. I was very pleased with Valseur as well,” commented the trainer.

Elsewhere, Willie Mullins said of Yorkhill: “I’m not sure that he has a career as a three-miler, it’s back to the drawing board after that.”

Sadly, Zabana became the day’s second high profile casualty when he had to be put down as a result of the fall he suffered at the final fence with a circuit to run. The eight-year-old was an admirable campaigner for trainer Andy Lynch and owner Chris Jones for whom he won a Grade 1 novice chase at the 2016 Punchestown Festival. He was also beaten a neck into second in the previous year’s Coral Cup at Cheltenham.