Douvan is imperious at Leopardstown

Only a short-head prevented a perfect 40 minutes of successful Grade 1 action for Willie Mullins after Vautour agonisingly failed to put a King George VI seal on Douvan's imperious Leopardstown victory quarter of an hour earlier.

A vintage St Stephens Day top-flight streak had begun for the champion trainer - and owner Rich Ricci - when Faugheen successfully defended his Christmas Hurdle title at Kempton.

But if the Champion Hurdle winner was impressive it paled compared to Douvan’s rout of three opponents in Leopardstown’s St Stephens Day feature, the Racing Post Novice Chase, a performance that earned Douvan 4-6 quotes for Arkle glory at Cheltenham in March.

It set the scene up perfectly for Vautour quarter of an hour later and the Irish star travelled like a King George winner for almost all of the three miles only for his stamina to dramatically empty from the last allowing Cue Card beat him on the nod.

In contrast the other Irish favourite Don Cossack never looked to be travelling in the King George but had somehow got himself back into a position alongside Cue Card until crashing out at the second last.

However if the Kempton action was frenzied there was an inevitability to Douvan’s performance under champion amateur Patrick Mullins which suggests a rare talent.

One can only guess at how sore Paul Townend’s leg must have been in order for him to stand himself down after the first race, allowing the trainer’s son to come in for a ride he subsequently described as “one of the best thrills I’ve ever had.”

As a way of riding your first Grade 1 over obstacles it certainly took some beating and provided a notable centrepiece to the rider’s St Stephens Day hat-trick - the first of his career - which also took in A Toi Phil and Bacardys.

The anticipated scenario of Ttebbob cutting out the pace failed to materialise and Douvan was dominant from before half-way, ultimately winning by 18 lengths and defying rain-soaked conditions, plus a slight final fence mistake, to win with a motionless Mullins on his back.

Ttebbob was pulled up after the third last and his trainer Jessica Harrington caught the popular mood when saying: “Our horse was flat and not himself - but even at his best he wouldn’t have beaten him.”

Mullins summed up the performance as “magnificent” and added: “He covers ground so easily. I think he has a stride half a time again more than other horses. He travelled and jumped and even when he made the mistake it didn’t take anything out of him. This is a huge bonus for me.”

The game of musical jockey chairs that saw Mullins Jnr wind up on Douvan after Townend stood himself down even had Willie Mullins’s assistant and former jockey David Casey briefly wondering if he might get pressed back into service in the saddle after retiring last September.

“My licence is still good until January but I forgot my helmet and boots!” he said. “The horse put the race to bed very well and Patrick gave him a great ride. We weren’t sure how much he’d learned from his first start at Navan but he was very good.”

The Turf Club's medical officer, Dr Adrian McGoldrick said Paul Townend faces up to ten days on the injury sidelines after a fall at Navan less than a fortnight ago - "He has bruising on his tibia, on the bone, and it is very sore."

Douvan’s time of 4.29.1 was over ten seconds faster than the previous handicap over the same course and distance won by Dysios.

If Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud team were left frustrated after Don Cossack’s exit, it was nevertheless a hugely successful day for them at Leopardstown with a hat-trick highlighted by Apple’s Jade’s narrow defeat of Jer’s Girl in the Grade 2 Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle.

Jonathan Burke was in the saddle of what appeared to be the Closutton second-string and he nailed the pace-forcing runner up on the line.

“She was fairly keen and just took a bit of time to pick up, but when she had something to aim at in the straight she was very tough and brave,” Burke said. “She really stuck her neck out, and they are two tough fillies.”

A Toi Phil was too good for Don’t Touch It in one of the maiden hurdles and topweight Ice Cold Soul scored for trainer Noel Meade in the handicap, after which the trainer ruled out Gigginstown’s Rod To Riches from Monday’s Lexus Chase.

The one blip on an otherwise perfect day for Patrick Mullins came when he picked up a two day ban for his use of the whip on the bumper winner Bacardys who got the better of a prolonged duel with Gigginstown's hope, Grotesque. The latter's rider, Jamie Codd, got a day from the stewards for careless riding.

The former Hennessy Gold Cup winning jockey Tommy Treacy retired after finishing third to A Toi Phil on Virgil.

“I’m getting out with no regrets. I’ve met some lovely people and loved every minute,” he said. “Those days of riding Danoli were unbelievable, I’ll never forget it.”

The St Stephens Day attendance of 11,844 was down just over 1,000 on the 2014 figure. Bookmaker turnover was up however, to E543,746 from E437,010, while the Tote bet E480,665, up from last year’s E380,290.