Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
YES WE CLAN
Sam guides Des Obeaux to thrilling Gold Cup win over Al Boum Photo
BY DAVID YATES and PETER O’HEHIR
CLAN DES OBEAUX beat the Irish on their own patch with a thrilling Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup success.
British-trained jumpers suffered one humbling after another at the hands of Ireland’s runners at Cheltenham and Aintree this spring.
But Clan Des Obeaux had responded to the fitting of cheekpieces with a Betway Bowl success on Merseyside and repeated the dose under Sam Twiston-davies with an all-the-way victory over dual Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Al Boum Photo. “I always
thought Punchestown would suit him,” said 12-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls, capturing the race for the third time and his first Punchestown winner since Master Minded took the two-mile Champion Chase in 2009.
“A great race and a great performance.
“Cheekpieces just woke him up, we changed tactics with him and it worked well.”
Twiston-davies, standing in for the injured Harry Cobden, added:
“It’s tough because Harry would normally be sat here and he’s a good friend.
“I feel a bit childish but it’s the stuff that dreams are made of. To come over here and do it like that being aggressive everywhere - is great.”
Twiston-davies adopted a positive approach, making virtually all the running at a strong pace and, from the third last, he shook off all rivals with the exception of 6/4 favourite Al Boum Photo.
The nine-year-old, partly owned by Sir Alex Ferguson and sent off at 100/30, was being challenged at the second last when the favourite made a costly mistake.
And he stayed on to triumph by a length and a half as the pair forged 17 lengths clear of thirdplaced Fakir D’oudairies, who was tackling an extended three miles for the first time.
This victory rewarded Nicholls, who won this race with Neptune Collonges in 2007 and 2008, for his decision to bypass Cheltenham with this gelding – opting instead to head for Aintree where he pulverised his rivals in the Betway Bowl before landing this massive prize of €147,500.
The winning trainer was represented by his assistant Harry Derham (inset) who said: “We tried
Cheltenham twice with him and it didn’t work out. The cheekpieces have really worked.
“Paul wanted Sam to be brave, to ride him positively, to make it a good gallop and to kick off the last turn and try to get away from Al Boum Photo. So it couldn’t have worked out better. They’re two very, very good horses. And it looked like a proper Gold Cup to me.”