Racing Post Novice Chase (Grade 1)

FRANCO De Port stepped out of the shadows cast by both his stablemates and his contemporaries to strike Grade 1 gold in a puzzling if intriguing edition of the Racing Post Novice Chase to give Bryan Cooper a victory he will surely cherish above many others.

There was a time when Cooper would have come to Leopardstown with an enviable book of rides over the four days but he has endured some fallow times in recent seasons.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is the rider’s ability and not for the first time in the last 12 months that shone through on the big stages as a canny ride on Willie Mullins’ comparatively unconsidered 8/1 chance paid maximum dividends.

The first major drama in this race came when the Mullins first string, Blackbow, went at the third. Thereafter the favourite Felix Desjy looked to blaze a trail but halfway down the backstraight he faltered, lost the lead and then turned in some ragged jumps.

At this point Cooper was biding his time at the rear but Franco De Port, in the colours of the Bruton Street V, steadily closed up on the leaders.

Last season’s Champion Hurdle third Darver Star led the field into the straight but he looked ripe to be picked off by the oncoming Franco De Port who took charge coming away from the final fence to win by four and a half lengths.

Darver Star was an honourable second and Felix Desjy finished a laboured third in a race that suggested the two-mile novice chasing division in Ireland is as open as it has been for quite a long time.

“That was a nice surprise. He jumped great and then came through after the early pace took its toll on some of the others,” said Mullins who was winning this race for the seventh time. “He got a terrific ride from Bryan who got him jumping and held him together when the pace was strong and he produced him at just the right time. He’s a horse that we could look at going up in trip with. The obvious thing would be to come back here to the Dublin Racing Festival for one of the novice chases.

“Bryan is a top jockey who took his chance today and took it very well. We had a fair idea the way the race might work out. We played for that and it worked out,” concluded Mullins.