Latest news with #Galopin
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Galopin Des Champs completes Gold Cup ‘Triple Crown' in stunning fashion at Punchestown
In dazzling sunshine, steeplechasing's brightest star Galopin Des Champs lit up the Punchestown Festival on Wednesday with a special success in the €300,000 Ladbrokes Gold Cup. The Willie Mullins -trained star bounced back from failing to land a Cheltenham Gold Cup hat-trick seven weeks previously and put a trio of rivals firmly in their place with a performance rapturously acclaimed by an official 23,285 attendance. Following two previous runner-up finishes in the race to Fastorslow, it completed a full set of Gold Cup prizes for Galopin, who made all the running to beat Spillane's Tower by 22 lengths. After a trio of Irish Gold Cups at Leopardstown and his pair of 'Blue Riband' victories at Cheltenham, the Punchestown variety completed a 'Triple Crown' famously achieved in a single season by Sizing John in 2017. READ MORE That horse's time in the spotlight was brief. But Galopin Des Champs' capacity to keep rolling on season after season is turning him into singular cherished talent. Led by a piper into the winner's enclosure and a massive reception, the claim that he may be the best Irish chaser since Arkle looked no exaggeration. And if it was all tinged with a hint of 'if only' about his surprise defeat by Inothwayurthinkin in March, there was renewed conviction too that next year may be when Galopin Des Champs joins Arkle as a triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. 'Cheltenham was Cheltenham and we were beaten, but horses get beaten,' Mullins said. 'There's always next year and he's only nine coming 10. He's still young enough to go and have another go.' The champion trainer was hardly going to say so, but the immediate suspicion was if this version of Galopin had turned up at Cheltenham the hat-trick would be in the bag already. Paul Townend and Galopin Des Champs on the way to victory at Punchestown. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Plainly never happy at most any point on his last start, he was a transformed proposition on home ground. Mullins admitted to concern about drying ground conditions beforehand, around a track where the horse had won just once over fences. But he made light of it all, travelling enthusiastically and adopting a swaggering catch-me-if you-can attitude to his three opponents. Paul Townend's only moment of worry was when the 5-6 favourite briefly shied at a road crossing. And when Spillane's Tower blundered four out, it quickly became clear any talk about a Punchestown hoodoo was for the birds. 'Men and boys – what a horse,' praised Ruby Walsh on RTÉ about a star now with 12 Grade One prizes in a stellar career that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon. 'We were disappointed in Cheltenham, but in hindsight he ran a huge race to get as far as he did, the feel I was getting off him,' Townend said. 'It's simple, he's so easy to ride, he is so measured at his fences and if he goes, it's just so straightforward on him.' In the circumstances, nothing else was getting a look in at the spotlight bar Galopin, despite Mullins saddling a 296-1 five-timer on the day. All three Grade One prizes went to Mullins – taking him to eight winners already this week – and for the second year in a row day two of the festival featured sibling Grade One glory for both Townend and his sister Jody. She completed Cheltenham-Punchestown Bumper double in style on Bambino Fever who quickened off a slow pace far too well for her opposition. It all but assured Townend of a fifth champion Lady Rider title in a row when the season ends on Saturday, and followed up her victory in the €100,000 contest a year ago on Redemption Day. Paul Townend on Jasmin De Vaux gets up to beat Mark Walsh on Honesty Policy to win the the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle at Punchestown. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Just why her brother will collect a seventh jockeys' championship was underlined in a dramatic Channor Champion Novice Hurdle victory for the favourite Jasmin De Vaux. The former bumper champion's approach to jumping this season has been remedial at times and Townend was patience itself until launching a challenge on his big rival Honesty Policy at the last. A first ask for a major jump actually yielded too extravagant a leap that saw the 13-8 favourite land steeply, resulting in his rider losing both his balance and his right iron. Townend admitted to feeling 'a bit stupid' having to improvise and explained: 'My right foot slipped out and instead of trying to get it back I kicked out the other one. It was the fastest option.' Mullins praised Townend's jockeyship on board a horse with a huge engine but a rudimentary jumping technique. Quite what Bambino Fever's technique will be over obstacles remains to be seen but she's the undisputed bumper champion of this season. 'It wasn't as fast a race as we thought it was going to be and she was still able to quicken off it,' the trainer said. 'I'm really looking forward to going jumping, the way she is bred.' Kaid D'authie and James Du Berlais in the €100,000 handicap chase completed the Mullins five-timer. Wednesday's Gold Cup attendance of 23,285 was over 1,600 up on last year's 21,652.
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Galopin Des Champs trying to secure valuable ‘away' win in Punchestown Gold Cup
All four runners in Wednesday's Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup are course winners, and yet despite that, for Galopin Des Champs it might feel like an 'away game'. For the last two years Galopin has pitched up for the €300,000 feature as reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup champion and twice has had to settle for the runner-up spot to Fastorslow. That rival is absent this time, and the horse described by Ruby Walsh as the best Irish steeplechaser since Arkle lost his Blue Riband title more than six weeks ago. What remains the case is general agreement that Punchestown isn't really his bag. It's some claim for a former Durkan winner, but just two victories in six starts here is a stat that supporters of Spillane's Tower, Banbridge and Monty's Star will be all over come 5.30pm. READ MORE So too will the ground element. On a soft surface there have been times during Galopin Des Champs's career when he's seemed all but unbeatable. His superb pair of Grade One successes at Leopardstown earlier this season underlined the point. Well able to operate on quicker ground, he nevertheless doesn't look quite as formidable on it, and he never looked happy in last month's Gold Cup. He plugged on gamely for second behind Inothewayurthinkin but the historic hat-trick only briefly looked on the cards. 'Obviously, he's trying to break his Punchestown Gold Cup hoodoo but there's not Fastorslow there this year, so hopefully he can finish out his season in style,' said Patrick Mullins. It means the horses-for-courses theory will be a recurring theme ahead of the day two festival feature. Willie Mullins is usually a subscriber to that, and to the premise that it's incumbent on connections to run their best horses in the most valuable races. Considering France's Gold Cup, the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, takes place at Auteuil in just over a fortnight, and is always run on soft ground, Galopin lining up here is not without significance. In contrast, this is very much Spillane Tower's prime Gold Cup target of a largely frustrating season. A place ahead of Galopin Des Champs in last November's Durkan, he was well behind Banbridge in the King George and hasn't been seen since. Derek O'Connor on Colcannon. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Banbridge failed to fire at Cheltenham in the Gold Cup and is once again on a retrieval mission here. Last season he flopped in the Ryanair before dropping back in trip to land the two-mile Grade One. In terms of ground, trip and track, these look to be his ideal conditions. Monty's Star ran an honourable fourth in the Gold Cup but is lowest rated of the quartet, over a stone behind Galopin Des Champs. A heady 175 mark underlines his fundamental quality, and that class can win out despite circumstances. A pair of Willie Mullins's Grade One Cheltenham winners aim to secure the festival double on Wednesday. Bambino Fever will try to become the sixth horse to complete the Cheltenham-Punchestown Champion Bumper double when lining up under Jody Townend. The mare Fayonagh in 2017 is one of the elite handful to manage the feat. Colreevy in 2019 was the last mare to win. Mullins also saddles Copacabana, while Kalypso'chance is another that lined up at Cheltenham. One horse that didn't is Colcannon, who had run too many times in bumpers to qualify. Instead, Noel Meade has waited for this since Derek O'Connor's mount beat Sortudo at the Dublin Racing Festival. That should leave Colcannon fresher than most, which by the end of the season is always a plus. Wednesday's opening Grade One, the Channor Novice Hurdle, will see Jasmin De Vaux try to emulate The Nice Guy in 2022 by adding this to Cheltenham's Albert Bartlett. And in the process he'll have to persuade his trainer that he can jump properly. Even after winning at Cheltenham, Willie Mullins labelled Jasmin De Vaux as 'probably one of the worst jumpers in racing'. To underline the point, he also threw in 'so unnatural' into the mix. It didn't stop the 2023 Champion Bumper winner winning the Albert Bartlett, but Punchestown's tighter track is a different sort of test that's likely to put more pressure on his suspect technique. Honesty Policy is a Grade One winner from Aintree, although a value alternative to both could prove to be Fleur In The Park who shapes as likely to benefit from stepping up in trip to this three-mile test. Seo Linn overcame her free-running tendencies to win at Aintree. If she races kindly, the concluding Mares' Bumper looks a fine opportunity for Paddy Twomey's runner.
