Honeysuckle stars at Dublin Racing Festival

An admiring and appreciative Leopardstown crowd cheered their darling Honeysuckle down to the start, they roared in approval passing the stands and they raised the roof as she galloped to a third straight win in the in the Grade 1 Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle for owner Kenny Alexander, trainer Henry de Bromhead and jockey Rachael Blackmore at Leopardstown on Sunday.

Although a 1/5 favourite, making her unbackable for most, her win was the undoubted highlight of the Dublin Racing Festival and while she readily outpointed Willie Mullins’ runners in the Sunday highlight, it was the champion trainer who dominated with success in seven of the 15 races on offer over the weekend.

But day two of the Festival belonged to the unbeaten Honeysuckle which was recording her tenth Grade 1 win and her 14th racecourse success, overtaking Bula to create a new record for the longest unbeaten run over jumps. Her six and a halflength win over Gordon Elliott’s Zanahiyr also saw the eight-year-old join Hurricane Fly and Istabraq as the only horses to win Irish Champion Hurdle on three or more occasions.

Willie Mullins landed three winners on Sunday’s card, all at Grade 1 level, with 4/9 favourite Galopin Des Champs certainly living up to his billing in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase in the hands of Paul Townend. Mullins and Townend also captured the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase with 4/7 favourite Chacun Pour Soi which firmly put his disappointing pre-Christmas Sandown run behind him with a 12-length success over the Pat Fahy-trained Dunvegan. Mullins’ Sir Gerhard made every yard of the running under Townend as he posted a six-length victory over the Elliott-trained Three Stripe Life in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle.

In the colours of Gigginstown House Stud, Conflated made the best of his way home to ground out a wonderful victory in the feature Grade 1 Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup on the opening day of the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown on Saturday. The much-improved eight-year-old defeated reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo, trained by Henry de Bromhead, by six and a half lengths. The winner went off an 18/1 shot but he wasn’t without his supporters and was a far bigger price in the days before the race.

Champion trainer Willie Mullins secured the opening three races on Saturday, a trio of Grade 1 affairs. While the 9/2 chance A Wave Of The Sea jumped like a buck and for Kanturk, County Cork conditional jockey Shane Fitzgerald to make it a two-in-a-row in the Paddy Power Handicap Chase for JP McManus and trainer Joseph O’Brien.

It was a very special evening for Sean Bowen on Friday where he brought his career tally to three when landing a double, a very rare feat for a 10lbs claiming apprentice, on horses trained by Denis Hogan and County Mayo’s Fergal Birrane. The 16-yearold from Clonmel rode his first winner at the beginning of December and he was back in the number one spot after a comfortable two-length success on Hogan’s 6/4 favourite Fox Leicester in the second division of the 10-furlong handicap. In the colours of the Premier Racing Club, the sixyear-old beat the John McConnell-trained 4/1 shot Arctic Blaze in good style. Bowen provided Killala trainer Fergal Birrane with his first winner in 18 months when getting 11/2 chance Dubirango home by half a length to win the seven-furlong handicap. It was a fair effort from the saddle as one of Dubirango’s reins broke as he came with his challenge and the three-year-old edged to his right in the closing stages as he beat the Gillian Scott-trained Cherry Bloom.

Chris Hayes partnered the opening winner at Dundalk on Friday night where he won the five-furlong handicap on the Lee Smyth-trained Adams Barbour. The five-year-old was a winner over six furlongs at the track just two days earlier and looked better again over the minimum trip with a two and a quarter-length win over the Ado McGuinness-trained Eglish at odds of 7/4 favourite.

The father and son team of Andy and Andrew Slattery combined to win the 10-furlong maiden with the Pat Garvey-owned Sunwalk at Dundalk on Wednesday. The 5/2 chance raced a little keenly and led after halfway as he got the better of the Denis Hogan-trained Jaafel by a neck. Brian Slattery said, “He’s shown us a lot more at home compared to what he has produced so far on the track. Hopefully he’ll build on this and keep going forward. He’s a very big horse and it’s probably going to take time to grow into himself. He ran well on soft ground at Gowran Park last year and at some stage he will jump a hurdle.” Gavin Ryan landed a 16/1 success as the Ciaran Murphy-trained Chica Power won the seven-furlong handicap. The four-year-old overcame an unfavourable wide draw as she beat the well-fancied 3/1 joint-favourite Reverberation by half a length.

Robert Tyner and conditional rider Shane O’Callaghan won the opening claiming hurdle with the veteran Spare Brakes at Limerick on Tuesday. The 12-year-old justified his position at the head of the betting markets when holding off the sustained challenge of the Patrick Hassett-trained Sight Nor Seen by a head. O’Callaghan said of the wining 2/1 favourite which was recording his fifth career success, “He travelled great and was hard on the bridle for me everywhere. I probably got there too soon but I got a lovely split up the inside turning in and he took it. He is as honest as the day is long.” Eugene O’Sullivan was next into the winners’ enclosure as the Jordan Canavan-ridden Earths Furies took the opening division of the two-mile five-furlong handicap hurdle. The 3/1 chance got the better of the Norman Lee-trained Half Shot by a length and three-parts and O’Sullivan commented, “I said I’d make use of his hurdle mark and the race and trip suited him. It is seldom you’d meet everything right. He won here over Christmas and he’ll go back chasing now and we’ll find similar events for him.”

Mallow trainer Eoghan O’Grady gave Jordan Gainford the winner that saw the County Wexford jockey ride out his claim as Springfield Lodge took the opening division of the two-mile handicap hurdle. The Falcon Four Syndicate-owned 13/2 chance got the better of Sean Aherne’s Shean Glory by a length with O’Grady saying, “On her chase form she had a reasonable mark and Jordan was a great help. She’ll go for something similar next over hurdles and then there’s a mares’ handicap chase at Navan at the start of next month for her.”

Upton’s John Murphy and Ballyduff amateur rider Adam Feeney recorded a narrow success in the concluding bumper with 9/4 chance Black Bamboo just getting the better of 150/1 outsider Alpesh Amin by a head. The pair were locked together from before the furlong pole and served up a thriller with Feeney commenting, “I have ridden three point-to-point winners and that’s my first winner on the racecourse. I’m with John six mornings a week and I love it, there are a lot of nice young horses there and this is fellow is a gorgeous horse. He ran a cracker the first day at Punchestown and was tough today.”

UPCOMING FIXTURES

Thurles – Thursday, February 10 (first race 1.45pm); Dundalk – Friday. February 11 (first race 5.30pm); Naas – Saturday, February 12 (first race 1.25pm); Punchestown – Sunday, February 13 (first race 1.40pm).