LAST YEAR’S WINNER Clan Des Obeaux and the brilliant Allaho are among nine runners declared for the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup on Wednesday.
The Paul Nicholls-trained Clan Des Obeaux got the better of dual Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Al Boum Photo when lifting the Grade One prize 12 months ago.
The 10-year-old returns to Ireland in a bid to complete the same end-of-season double as last year, after successfully defending his crown in the Betway Bowl at Aintree three weeks ago.
Allaho is the likely favourite following another imperious display when making it back-to-back wins in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last month.
The key question, of course, is whether the Cheveley Park Stud-owned powerhouse can prove as effective stepping back up to three miles.
The eight-year-old is one of five runners for champion trainer Willie Mullins along with Al Boum Photo, 2019 Punchestown Gold Cup winner Kemboy, King George hero Tornado Flyer and Janidil.
Joseph O’Brien’s Fakir D’oudairies is another horse stepping back up in distance after winning his second Melling Chase over two and a half miles at Aintree earlier in the month, while Henry de Bromhead runs Minella Indo, who had to make do with the runner-up spot behind stablemate A Plus Tard when bidding for successive wins in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on his latest outing.
The stellar field is completed by Gordon Elliott’s Galvin, who lunged late to beat A Plus Tard in the Savills Chase over Christmas before finishing fourth in the blue riband.
The first of three Grade Ones on Wednesday’s card is the three-mile Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle, in which the Mullins-trained pair of The Nice Guy and Minella Cocooner renew rivalry after finishing first and second in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham.
Other hopefuls include Elliott’s pair of Minella Crooner and Hollow Games and Journey With Me from De Bromhead’s yard.
Facile Vega is the star attraction in the Race & Stay At Punchestown Champion I.N.H. Flat Race. He is joined by four stable companions in Madmansgame, Redemption Day, Seabank Bistro and Viva Devito, while Elliott’s Cheltenham runner-up American Mike is also in the mix.
Bob Olinger is the star attraction in the Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase tomorrow as Henry de Bromhead steps his unbeaten chaser up to three miles for the first time at the Punchestown Festival.
Heading into the Cheltenham Festival with a perfect record over the larger obstacles, the seven-year-old appeared set for defeat as Galopin Des Champs left the son of Sholokhov trailing in his wake in the closing stages of the Turners Novices’ Chase.
However, disaster struck at the final fence for the 5-6 favourite and allowed Bob Olinger to regroup and canter home for an uncontested 40-length victory in the Grade One event.
Both big-race jockey Rachael Blackmore and the trainer were unhappy with the gelding at Prestbury Park, who looked a shadow of the horse that landed the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle 12 months previously. He was given a thorough check-up in the aftermath and having recovered from the issues highlighted in that MOT, De Bromhead states it was always the intention to move up in trip at this stage of the season.
“I think it’s a logical progression to go to three miles with Bob,” De Bromhead said. “He seems really well again. Obviously, it was great to win but he was disappointing in Cheltenham in terms of the level of his performance, but it seems good now and we’re happy with him. We’ll see where we go after learning more on Tuesday.
“He definitely wasn’t right in Cheltenham. Definitely. He had this torn muscle. It wasn’t bad but it was definitely torn and it probably ties in. Rachael said he made a terrible noise after he jumped the sixth-last, where he twisted in the air. So it definitely didn’t look like him.
“We were always going to go for the three-mile race at Punchestown and as we’re happy with him now that the muscle tear has cleared up, it’s all systems go.”
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