Racing: Golden Silver booked his ticket to the Punchestown Festival when giving weight and a beating to his rivals in the Tattersalls Ireland Dan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase at Fairyhouse.
The eight-year-old is already a Grade One winner this season having landed Leopardstown’s Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase but finished a well beaten sixth in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham last month.
The Willie Mullins inmate appeared to have plenty on his plate conceding upwards of 11lb all round in this competitive heat, but Paul Townend rode the 9-2 chance with the utmost confidence throughout.
While stablemate and hot favourite Jayo lost all chance with a bad mistake on the home straight, Golden Silver cruised to the front at the final fence and was kept up to his work to beat Blueberry Boy by three lengths.
Mullins said: “He just loves this (heavy) ground — it’s the key to him. It’s nice compensation for Cheltenham. Hopefully I’ll try and get him back for Punchestown if I can. The Boylesports.com Champion Chase (April 20) is there for him.
“Jayo just didn’t jump the second-last and that put him out of the race.”
Mullins’ C’Est Ca was sent off favourite to give the trainer a double in the Ladbrokes.com Handicap Hurdle, but he had to make do with the runner-up spot as 25-1 chance Un Hinged made all the running under Alain Crowe.
Winning owner and trainer John Coleman said: “I’m absolutely thrilled. He’s a good horse and we bred him ourselves. It’s wonderful to get a big race with him. He’s a pleasure to have. He’s a fairly wound up little horse but always performs when he goes racing.
“The intention is to go chasing. He’s 10 now and I think we’ll give him a year or two chasing.”
The Dessie Hughes-trained Magnanimity stayed on best in the grueling conditions to take the Bobbyjo Bar Festival Novice Hurdle in the hands of Davy Russell.
The former point-to-point winner was sent off at 10-1 for this Grade Two contest but travelled kindly into the straight and quickened away from Frascati Park to score by four and a half lengths.
“I thought he came here with a real good chance as he handles the heavy ground,” said Hughes. “He’ll go to Punchestown. He’s in a couple of the better races and will run in one of them.
“He’s a nice horse who is just coming to himself. His run last time at Navan was very good. He had to make the running as there was no pace. He finished third and would
have won in another 50 yards.
“We brought him to Cheltenham but he got balloted out of his race. He’s an out-and-out chaser and we thought that from the start.”
Peter Casey’s Fingal Rock recorded her first win over obstacles in the Grade Three Weatherbys Ireland GSB Hurdle. Sent off at 4-1 under Irish Grand National-winning jockey Andrew McNamara, the four-year-old moved smoothly into contention in the straight and was coaxed to the lead after the final flight to score readily.
“I thought she had no chance. I couldn’t believe the ground. She’s only a small filly but she did better than I expected,” said Casey.
The Irish Daily Mirror Novice Handicap Chase went the way of 9-1 shot Sang Bleu, while Beantown (12-1) made every post a winning one in the Joseph R.O’Reilly Memorial Hunters Chase.