Min merciless with easy win on comeback

MIN enjoyed a facile success on his first run since last Christmas when justifying prohibitive odds of 1-9 over fences at Gowran.

The Willie Mullins-trained sixyear-old made all the running in the hands of Paul Townend and was never out of second gear in the three-runner chase. The step up to two and a half miles was no problem for Min as he cantered 36 lengths ahead of Flaxen Flare.

Townend said: ‘He was very good. He just wasn’t concentrating at the first and he put in a big leap. After that he was dynamite everywhere – long and short, whatever he wanted to do. He was impressive. We hoped he would do something like that and he did. It is on to the next day now.’

Mullins said: ‘That was a tremendous return for Min and I thought his jumping was good and he was fresh and well. We now know he goes two and a half miles and he wasn’t stopping, either, so it opens up a few more options. The John Durkan is too soon and I’ll be looking at Leopardstown over Christmas, unless there’s a juicy one before that.’

It was a treble for Mullins and Townend after the earlier wins of Carter McKay (10-11 favourite) and Sharjah (13-8 favourite).