Punchestown predictably unpredictable but Willie Mullins still in ascendancy

Irish Examiner

29-04-2025

It's Punchestown, it's end-of-season, it's expectedly unpredictable, and the opening day of the 2025 meeting was certainly all of that, as the track welcomed 17,842 patrons. A 22-1 winner was followed by one at 50-1, then there was a little levity when an 8-1 shot prevailed, before two of the three Grade Ones returned huge upsets at odds of 18-1 and 22-1.
What was much more predictable was that, despite those odds, Willie Mullins was in the ascendancy, winning two Grade Ones, and adding the valuable Goffs Defender Bumper to complete a 7,428-1 treble.
The KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle was the first Grade One of the meeting, and 18-1 shot Irancy continued on his upward trajectory courtesy of a patient ride by Mark Walsh.
Salvator Mundi went off quickly, with the short-priced, leftward-tending and poor-jumping Kopek Des Bordes his nearest pursuer for much of the trip. At one point they must have had 20 lengths and more to spare over the other quartet.
As those early exertions began to tell on the first two, a couple of the other runners closed in, and it was Irancy, a winner at Fairyhouse's Easter festival, who moved best of all.
Walsh allowed him to ease to the front coming off the last bend, and when he asked for more at the back of the last, he stretched away to win by a wide margin from the game Salvator Mundi. Karbau took third ahead of an eased-up Kopek Des Bordes, who completed a Mullins 1-2-3-4 in a race which he has farmed, having won seven of the last eight, and nine of the last 11 runnings of the race.
'Irancy has always been a good horse and met with a setback after winning here earlier in the season, but it might have been the best thing to have happened as he came here fresh,' said Mullins.
'I gave Kopek Des Bordes a nice break after Cheltenham and probably gave him too much and should have brought him to somewhere like Ayr or Perth. Looking at him in the parade ring, I thought he was carrying too much condition and that showed.'
Mullins saddled five of the eight runners in the Grade One Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase and while two of the quintet fell and another was brought down, he was still responsible for the first two home.
Ballyburn looked to have been gifted every opportunity as the field became depleted, but Danny Mullins spoiled the party as he brought 22-1 chance Champ Kiely through to lead after two out before pushing him clear for a facile success.
'Unbelievable,' said Danny Mullins. 'I'm just so lucky to be part of the team in Willie's. I'm just blessed to be on the team and get to ride some of the good ones on these days.
'This horse never really attacked when the loose horse upset him in Fairyhouse last week but, in fairness to Willie, he wasn't afraid to come back here. He knew the variable was stepping up five furlongs in trip and there was every chance he'd go and do that.
'I knew Paul was the horse to beat. The Gigginstown one was going to play a part, but we got the better of him off the bend and, yeah, he is a good horse to put it to bed nicely.'
Mullins saddled four in the Goffs Defender Bumper and, in keeping with the theme of the day, it was the outsider of the quartet, the Ruth Duffield-ridden Wonderful Everyday, who fared best, seeing off the promising Green Hint.
The Kildare Hunt Club Cross-Country Chase for the Ladies' Perpetual Cup is part of the tradition of this festival and this year's renewal provided a memorable moment for Richie O'Keeffe, who saddled the first two home. Victory went to Transprint, who gave jockey Tony Doyle his first winner on the track.
Fifty-to-one chance Buy Some Time upset the gamble on fellow British raider Almuhit in the Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Final Handicap Hurdle. There were five runners within a length as they raced over the last, but it was Scottish raider Buy Some Time, ridden by Ben Smith and trained by his father, Mike, who quickened up best to land the spoils.
Said the winning trainer: 'They all tell you that you can't beat the Irish and Willie comes over and beats us all, but it doesn't always happen that way. You have to be brave to take the risk and throw the darts!'
There was further British success when the Harry Derham-trained Ascending Lark took the listed Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle, but there was some Cork success as the winning rider, Paul O'Brien, hails from Mitchelstown.
The winner has been on a remarkable run since joining Derham early in 2024. From Haydock to Huntingdon, and Newcastle, Exeter and Ludlow, she came here unbeaten in five runs for the yard and benefited from a beautifully judged ride by O'Brien to extend that run to six.
Derek O'Connor trained Bud Fox when he won a point to point, and he was in the saddle when the horse made a winning track debut in the Willie Coonan Memorial Bumper. Now trained by Gavin Cromwell, the son of Walk In The Park and Flaviana was in prime position throughout and justified considerable market confidence by quickening up late on to readily put the day's finale to bed.