Walsh back with bang as Mullins hits three

IT was double delight for Ruby Walsh on his return to Cheltenham with two Grade One victories on Footpad in the Racing Post Arkle Trophy and Benie Des Dieux in the OBLG Mares’ Hurdle.

Walsh only returned to the saddle last Thursday after breaking his leg in November. He gave Footpad, talked of as a future Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, a patient ride as the sevenyear-old took a mighty step towards those lofty expectations in the twomile Arkle.

While Petit Mouchoir and Saint Calvados duelled for the lead at a frantic pace, Walsh kept Footpad well off the pace. Not surprisingly, the front pair paid the price for their exertions with Footpad sweeping past them at the second-last fence, under a motionless Walsh.

“I was happy going the pace I was going,” said Walsh. “I didn’t want them getting any further away from me, but I thought on this ground they might capitulate up front.”

Walsh proved correct and, despite a bad mistake at the sixth fence, Footpad cruised past the tiring rivals and bolted up the hill to win by 14 lengths. Brain Power stayed on to be second, with the exhausted Petit Mouchoir hanging on for third.

“He was brilliant,” said Walsh. “But I cannot say I was confident down the back when he landed on the first one. Still, I said to myself that they were going too fast in front and can’t keep going.

“You can make it on this ground from the front, but you have to make it on your own terms, not making it on the horse’s terms.”

Willie Mullins, the winning trainer, has not changed his ambitions for Footpad. “His jumping has just gone up another gear, and he can stay, so we might just have a Gold Cup horse on our hands,” he said.

Walsh got up at the winning post on Benie Des Dieux to win the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, Mullins ninth winner in just 11 runnings of the race.

“I thought that was the ride of the week,” said Mullins about Walsh. “Ruby was so good on her, to get her up the hill like that.

“She’s a big mare and after her first win I nicknamed her ‘Benie Des Douvan’ when I saw what she could do. She’s four from four for us now.”

Walsh paid a price for his hard-fought success. The stewards’ banned him two days for excessive whip use.

Mullins went on to complete a 54-1 treble as Rathvinden came up trumps in the National Hunt Amateur Riders’ Chase.

Rathvinden,partnered by Mullins’s son Patrick impressed his trainer who believes he could become a real Grand National contender one day.