Paul Townend produces 'feat of horsemanship' to win Grade 1 for Willie Mullins with no irons
Paul Townend produced a remarkable 'feat of horsemanship' to win a Grade 1 for boss Willie Mullins without his irons. Ireland's champion jump jockey was reunited with Jasmin De Vaux in Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle on day two of the Punchestown Festival.
The pair had been successful at the Cheltenham Festival in March when Townend steered the six-year-old to a two and a half length triumph in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle. Jasmin De Vaux was sent off the 13.-8 favourite to beat his seven rivals in the 3m race and he was poised to deliver his challenge as the leaders approached the final flight.
He was closing on Honesty Policy, who was narrowly in front, when he clipped the obstacle and landed awkwardly. Townend nearly came off the side and when he had managed to regain his balance his feet were out of the stirrups.
Nevertheless he made light of the situation to survive the scare and give Jasmin Du Vaux a vigorous ride to pass his rival and score by half a length.
Donn McLean, analysing the finish for RacingTV, said: 'He seemed to jump the last pretty well, landing a bit steeply with the hurdle swinging back at him.
'Then he just kind of stumbled a bit on landing. Paul Townend became unbalanced, got his balance back quickly, lost his iron, then the other iron out, then got into the drive position.
'What a feat of horsemanship to be able to help the horse in that situation and get him going forward. The attitude Jasmin Du Vaux has shown as well to get up and get the better of a Grade 1 winner on his inside.'
Townend said: 'It was all in at the last and he got a bit high and I got unbalanced but if the engine is in there, we can iron out my mistakes.
'I had to win it a couple of times and then when momentum went at the last he was still able to pick up and go again. He's come a long way from the start of the season but he can still improve.'
Mullins said: 'He just does it when he has to. He's not the world 's best jumper. Paul asked him for a big one at the last, he gave it to him but he nearly tipped him out of the saddle. It was great jockeyship by Paul to stay in the saddle, with I think one iron probably.
'It's a fantastic achievement to get that done, get the job done. He did what needed to be done. He's got a huge engine, maybe he'll jump fences better – I don't know.
'If you can just get him near the winning post, get him over his hurdles without losing too much ground, he's able to make it up on the flat.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- South Wales Guardian
Beckett can see merit in coming back in trip with Stanhope Gardens
The Kimpton Down trainer feels the lightly-raced Ghaiyyath colt just ran out of stamina close home, having made up plenty of ground after the descent from Tattenham Corner. Beckett said: 'Dropping him in trip would be the obvious thing, but what muddies the water is that he had such a bad prep. 'I don't want to make excuses, he ran his race, but he was off the last week of April, the first week of May and then we had another problem the week before the Derby as well so he only just made it. 'From that draw (15), sectionals say he ran a fast three-to-two and two-to-one so all of that is really encouraging. 'The obvious thing is to run him over 10 furlongs because if he doesn't get home over 12 next time then I'm in a hole. Although he's by Ghaiyyath the mare (Pure Art), whatever they breed her to they never get more than 10 furlongs, so I think that is where we'll end up – but it is to be debated. 'There's the Eugene-Adam at Saint-Cloud against three-year-olds, but we'll see where we are in a couple of weeks.' Beckett also fielded Dante winner Pride Of Arras, who went off second-favourite but only beat one home. 'He was very disappointing. He was a little bit keen up the hill and came down the hill like an ostrich on ice,' Beckett told Racing TV. 'He's come out of it well and we'll go again. I'd be keen to go to the Irish Derby, as I think that will suit him.' Last year's Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me, bought by Amo Racing for 4,800,000 guineas, was another disappointment in the Coronation Cup and her future appears to be on temporary hold. 'I'm not sure about her, the way she's come out of the race, which is well, I'm not sure about anything with her at the moment, I'll have to do a bit more digging,' said Beckett.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- South Wales Guardian
Zahrann under consideration for King Edward VII challenge
Narrowly beaten on his Navan debut before bolting up at Cork, the Johnny Murtagh-trained three-year-old faced a significant step up in class for the Listed King George V Cup but overcame signs of inexperience to come from last to first and win going away in the colours of the late Aga Khan. Murtagh raised the option of a trip to Ascot in the immediate aftermath and Pat Downes, general manager at the Aga Khan's Irish studs, said on Tuesday: 'He will certainly have an entry in the King Edward and beyond that we're just going to see how he is over the next few days. Smooth from Zahrann in the Listed King George V Cup @LeopardstownRC 👇🏻 — Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 5, 2025 'He was obviously still a little bit raw when winning at Leopardstown and we'll just have to think what is in the best interests of the horse for his next race, but certainly the King Edward is a possibility as we speak now. 'We were delighted with him in Leopardstown, the race was run at a pretty sedate pace so he was a bit further back than ideal and came wide into the straight as well, so I thought he did well to pick them up and win well at the line.' The possibility of Zahrann being supplemented for the Irish Derby was also mooted, but given the Curragh Classic comes just nine days after his potential Royal Ascot engagement he appears highly unlikely to do both. 'It would be one or the other and I would say, given how he ran at Leopardstown it might be better to take a smaller step with him than a bigger step just at this point in his career,' Downes added. 'He's got some nice entries for the second half of the year and he's certainly a horse we would see being effective over 10 or 12 furlongs, so hopefully there's some good days ahead with him.' Zahrann could be part of a small but select team of horses to carry the famous green and red silks at the Royal meeting, with his stablemate Reyenzi also pencilled in alongside some major challengers from France. Reyenzi was first past the post in the Group Three Gallinule Stakes last month before being demoted to third by the stewards after causing interference. Downes said: 'The plan for Reyenzi at the moment is that he'll run in the Hampton Court. He ran around a bit the last day for sure, but it was only his third lifetime start and hopefully he'll have learned from that and he's been in good form since. 'Then the two main ones from France would be Zarigana in the Coronation Stakes and Candelari in the Gold Cup and we'll probably have a couple of others as well.'
North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Beckett can see merit in coming back in trip with Stanhope Gardens
The Kimpton Down trainer feels the lightly-raced Ghaiyyath colt just ran out of stamina close home, having made up plenty of ground after the descent from Tattenham Corner. Beckett said: 'Dropping him in trip would be the obvious thing, but what muddies the water is that he had such a bad prep. 'I don't want to make excuses, he ran his race, but he was off the last week of April, the first week of May and then we had another problem the week before the Derby as well so he only just made it. 'From that draw (15), sectionals say he ran a fast three-to-two and two-to-one so all of that is really encouraging. 'The obvious thing is to run him over 10 furlongs because if he doesn't get home over 12 next time then I'm in a hole. Although he's by Ghaiyyath the mare (Pure Art), whatever they breed her to they never get more than 10 furlongs, so I think that is where we'll end up – but it is to be debated. 'There's the Eugene-Adam at Saint-Cloud against three-year-olds, but we'll see where we are in a couple of weeks.' Beckett also fielded Dante winner Pride Of Arras, who went off second-favourite but only beat one home. 'He was very disappointing. He was a little bit keen up the hill and came down the hill like an ostrich on ice,' Beckett told Racing TV. 'He's come out of it well and we'll go again. I'd be keen to go to the Irish Derby, as I think that will suit him.' Last year's Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me, bought by Amo Racing for 4,800,000 guineas, was another disappointment in the Coronation Cup and her future appears to be on temporary hold. 'I'm not sure about her, the way she's come out of the race, which is well, I'm not sure about anything with her at the moment, I'll have to do a bit more digging,' said Beckett.
