IT’S LATE ENOUGH in the season for any horse to be making his seasonal debut, the last day of March, but when that seasonal debut is as impressive a seasonal debut as the one that Breaken made in the opening two-mile maiden hurdle at Limerick on Sunday, the wait is worthwhile.
And it wasn’t just Breaken’s seasonal debut. It was his first run in almost two years, his first run since he finished second in a conditions hurdle at Auteuil in June 2017. It was his first run in Ireland too, his first run for Willie Mullins.
The market and the vibes were strong. They sent him off at odds-on, more likely to win than to lose, 1/2, and there was never really a point in the race at which those who risked the two in order to win the one could have thought that they were not going to collect.
It was all very straightforward really. Paul Townend – clad in the newly famous Mrs Joe Donnelly colours that the rider wore when he guided Al Boum Photo to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup two and a half weeks ago – allowed the Sunday Break gelding roll out of the gate, he jumped the first hurdle a length in front and the more the race progressed, the further clear he went.
When he passed the winning post with a circuit to go, his closest pursuers hadn’t reached the 50-yard marker. When he jumped the last hurdle in the back straight, his rivals were just streaming over the second last hurdle in the back straight. And when he rolled into the home straight, he had an unassailable lead. In the end, he cantered to a 17-length victory, and it wasn’t until he ran around to the first hurdle in the back straight again that his rider was able to pull him up.
Runner-up Calicojack is a useful novice hurdler, and it is reasonable to assume that he ran his race, but the winner was in a different league. This was just a starting point too, Breaken is only five and this was just the fifth run of his life and just his second run over hurdles. There is no telling how high he could go.
Willie Mullins spoke afterwards about ideally finding another small race for him, another stepping stone. That said, if he lined up for one of the good novice hurdles at the Punchestown Festival, he would have to be of interest on this evidence.
It was a good day at Limerick for Willie Mullins. As well as landing the opener, he also fielded the 1-2 in the feature race, the Grade 3 Hugh McMahon Memorial Novice Chase, with Burrows Saint and Robin Des Foret.
It looked like Robin Des Foret was travelling better than his better-fancied stable companion as they straightened up for home and faced up to the second last fence, but Burrows Saint found plenty for Ruby Walsh. He was long at the final fence, but he jumped it well and he came away from his stable companion on the run-in in the style of a horse who has stamina in abundance.
It is interesting that Burrows Saint holds an entry in the BoyleSports Irish Grand National on Easter Monday. He was raised by 7lb by the handicapper for Sunday’s win, which is the penalty that he would carry if he were to take his place in the Irish National line-up. That would see Susannah Ricci’s horse race off an effective handicap rating of 144, and that looks like a mark off which he could be competitive.
Bluesea Cracker and General Principle both won the Hugh McMahon Chase in recent years before going on to win the Irish Grand National the following season, and it may be that Burrows Saint will also wait a year. He does hold an entry in the Ryanair Gold Cup at Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday, and that would be a legitimate alternative. He is only six years old.
That said, Willie Mullins sent out Kemboy to win the Hugh McMahon Chase last year as a six-year-old, and that was after, not before – such are the vagaries of Easter – the Voix Du Nord gelding had fallen at the first fence in the Irish National. The champion trainer is not averse to allowing young, progressive staying chasers take their chances in the Irish Grand National.
There was a lot going on at the weekend besides. Saturday was a very good day for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin. Auxerre continued his forward momentum when he danced in in the Lincoln at Doncaster under James Doyle, while over in Dubai, at Meydan, Cross Counter won the Dubai Gold Cup, Blue Point won the Al Quoz Sprint, and Old Persian won the Dubai Sheema Classic, a treble for Appleby and for rider William Buick.
Godolphin were also on the mark at Meydan with the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Thunder Snow, who battled on bravely under Christophe Soumillon to land the Dubai World Cup, the first horse to win back-to-back renewals in the World Cup in the 24-year history of the race.
And just to put the (blue) cap on it, Godolphin also had a Group 1 winner in Australia before most people in Dubai or Doncaster or Navan had sat down to breakfast, with the James Cummings-trained Avilius winning the Kia Tancred Stakes at Rosehill under James McDonald.
At Navan, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Sergei Prokofiev put up a fine performance on his seasonal debut to land the Listed Cork Stakes at Navan on Saturday, and runner-up Chessman, having just his second run for Richard O’Brien, ran an eye-catching race in chasing him home. And Dermot Weld teamed up with owner HH The Aga Khan and rider Chris Hayes to win both divisions of the one-mile maiden with two promising types in Sherkali and Shelir.
Or it’s early in the season. Depends on your perspective.
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