The 1 to 2 favourite Feathered Leader, as expected, won yesterday's Irish Field Chase at Punchestown but the four-runner race provided more than its share of drama, with Montana Glen's rider Tommy Treacy picking up a two-day ban for taking the wrong course.
Montana Glen tracked Feathered Leader to the second last fence, with the 33 to 1 outsider, Amarettoforanna, a distance behind and Rathbawn Prince about to be pulled up. That was as straightforward as it was going to get.
Montana Glen jumped the second last and crashed through the running rail. It was clear that the horse had taken the wrong course but Treacy continued to ride the horse out in pursuit of Feathered Leader, and with Conor O'Dwyer easing up on the winner, Montana Glen got to within two and a half lengths.
The horse's disqualification was inevitable and Amarettoforanna was promoted to second place. Considering Amarettoforanna was a distance behind Feathered Leader, punters were speculating that Treacy could almost have turned Montana Glen around after crashing out and nearly got second officially, whatever about the £2,000 third prizemoney that, at worse, would surely have been his. At the stewards' inquiry, Treacy could offer no explanation for having continued in the race and he was handed his ban for failing to pull up and also forfeited his riding fee. Amarettoforanna's rider David Casey was severely cautioned to be more determined in his efforts in the future.
A further twist was added when the offending running rail after the second last was adjusted for the second chase on the card. Joe Collins, the clerk of the course, was interviewed concerning the siting of the rail and the matter was referred to the Turf Club for further investigation.
After all of that there was a wonderful predictability to the McManus Punchestown Cup, when the remarkable Risk Of Thunder again demonstrated his mastery of the banks course to register his 10th victory at Punchestown.
"It'a a treat to watch him jump around there. The way he jumps those banks, he is a great horse," said trainer Enda Bolger who nominated the Sporting Index Chase at Cheltenham as Risk Of Thunder's next race.
