PLUS GIVES A BIT EXTRA
Tard floors Champion hope Soi
A PLUS TARD shocked hotpot Chacun Pour Soi at Leopardstown to earn a 7-1 quote for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March.
The 4-1 shot’s win in the Paddy’s Rewards Club “Loyalty’s Dead, Live For Rewards” Chase was a second Grade 1 at the Christmas fixture for trainer Henry de Bromhead and jockey Rachael Blackmore, successful with Notebook on Boxing Day.
After watching Blackmore guide her mount to a three-and-three-quarterlength victory over the 8-15 favourite, de Bromhead said: “Rachael always seems to be in the right place at the right time and she just keeps riding winners.
“She’s a pleasure to work with and wants it as much as all of us.”
But de Bromhead warned punters to hold their bets for Cheltenham, adding:
“We’ll probably enter him now in the Champion Chase, but in my head he was always going for the Ryanair.”
Abacadabras paid his stablemate — and last-time-out Fairyhouse conqueror Envoi Allen — a compliment with an eight-length triumph in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle.
Gordon Elliott, whose five-year-old is now 7-2 for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, said: “He’s got a bit of pace.
“I’d say a bit better ground would suit him as he doesn’t bend his knee too much. He’s a nice horse.”
Bun Doran made full use of Altior’s absence to beat Duc Des Genievres by a length and a half for Tom George and Jonathan Burke in the Grade 2 Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton.