FAN-TASTIC
Blooming marvellous as Penhill scores for Brighton owner Tony
BRIGHTON & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom celebrated another late winner when Penhill landed the Stayers’ Hurdle.
Willie Mullins’ seven-year-old, wearing the Premier League club’s blue-and-white colours, had spent much of the last 323 days on the treatment table.
But the 12-1 chance, winner of last year’s Albert Bartlett, made an instant impact on his return to competitive action under Paul Townend (below), getting the better of Supasundae in the closing stages.
Bloom, a feared punter whose team are fighting for a top-half finish in their first Premier League campaign, beamed: “We had a bet on him – more with hope than expectation.
“In the summer, we were worried as to whether he would run again, but a few months back I was told he was getting better. To go there and win a Grade 1 championship race was brilliant.”
For Townend, capturing his first championship event at Cheltenham, the victory was balm to the irritation of a neck defeat aboard
Melon in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle and silver medals on Min in Wednesday’s Champion Chase and odds-on favourite Un De Sceaux in yesterday’s Ryanair Chase.
“It’s been a frustrating couple of days,” said the 27-year-old.
But there was no storybook success for northern raider Sam Spinner. The 9-4 favourite, whose trainer Jedd O’keeffe beat cancer – and whose jockey Joe Colliver is back on the up after serving a prison term – made the running before coming home fifth.
“I think it has come a year too soon for him, being a very inexperienced novice at the start of the season,” said O’keeffe.
Penhill’s win had taken Mullins alongside Nicky Henderson as the most successful trainer in Cheltenham Festival history with 60 winners – and Laurina’s dominance under Townend in the Trull House Novices’ Hurdle gave him the record outright.
After watching the 4-7 hotpot’s 18-length win over Cap Soleil – Mullins, who is now 1-10 to top the trainers’ standings for the sixth time, said: “It’s not something we’ve dreamed of, being based in Ireland and coming over here.
“We’re thrilled.”