Ahead of a star-studded Leopardstown weekend there came a reminder yesterday that no amount of star-power is a guarantee of success as Sprinter Sacre’s undefeated record over fences was dramatically ended at Kempton when he was pulled up, possibly suffering from an irregular heartbeat.
National Hunt racing's highest-rated horse started a 2/9 favourite to win the Desert Orchid Chase but after making a mistake at the seventh fence Sprinter Sacre was quickly pulled up by jockey Barry Geraghty.
Last night the chaser, rated the best seen for decades by some handicappers, was back at Nicky Henderson's yard but faces a visit to vets in Newmarket today to sort out what could be a similar problem that affected the former Gold Cup winner Denman.
"We have got to investigate this. He's not distressed, and he's not going to have a heart attack or anything," Henderson said last night. "He is going to Newmarket tomorrow. Everyone has mentioned Denman and he went on to finish second in Gold Cups. When we get to the bottom of it, then we'll know what to do to repair it."
Shell-shock moment
t was a shell-shock moment for both Henderson and Geraghty who will be at Leopardstown today where Sprinter Sacre's Cheltenham Gold Cup winning stable-companion Bobs Worth headlines the €150,000 Lexus Chase.
It is one of a series of eagerly-anticipated races over the weekend, none more so than the clash of Hurricane Fly and Our Conor in the Ryanair Hurdle, which will highlight tomorrow's final day of a Christmas festival that had been turning into a nightmare for Willie Mullins until Rockyaboya landed yesterday's €190,000 Paddy Power Chase in a thrilling finish with favourite Cause Of Causes.
The champion trainer had been expected to continue his customary dominance of the festival’s Grade One events but after a lacklustre St Stephen’s Day, things looked to go from bad to worse on day two when Mullins saddled three beaten favourites. But in one of the most competitive handicaps of the year, Rockyaboya, owned by Mullins’s son, Patrick, and ridden by Ruby Walsh, secured a 7/1 victory to give a relieved trainer a first win in the Paddy Power.
“Things had not been going well this week so it’s great to get that one,” smiled Mullins, whose weekend prospects, which include Hurricane Fly tomorrow, look a lot brighter after Walsh’s power-packed drive got the bottom-weight home by a short head from his great rival Tony McCoy on Cause Of Causes.
“Ruby getting down to 10/3 was huge for us, and once they jumped the last, that was what I was hoping, as we had bottomweight and Ruby on our side,” the trainer added. “That’s a first Paddy Power. It hasn’t been a lucky race for us up to now, and he’s not normally the type of horse we have for it.”
In fact Patrick Mullins revealed just how abnormal a Mullins-type Rockyaboya is as he only carries the champion amateur-jockey's colours because no one wanted to buy him.
'Point-to-point form'
"A friend of mine, Paul Byrne, told me about a horse with good point-to-point form, and I went to see him in a field where he was out with a bunch of cows and sheep," Mullins Jnr said. "I ended up buying him for very small money, but then he got injuries, and we couldn't sell him."
Rare is the Mullins-inmate that no one wants, but that initial misfortune wound up yesterday with Rockyaboya picking up a €106,800 first prize, the richest of the entire festival.
After the storm-force winds that swept across the country overnight, even torrential rain couldn’t entirely dampen the holiday spirit yesterday, and although conditions were tough, The Tullow Tank lived up to his name, by really getting going in the closing stages of the Future Champions Novice Hurdle.
The horse named after Irish rugby international Seán O’Brien looked to be fighting losing battle before the straight but showed admirable resolution to sweep by the favourite Moyle Park and earn general 12/1 quotes for the Cheltenham festival in March.
"Very satisfying," said his trainer Philip Fenton. "I didn't think he was going smoothly but then he put it to bed like a really good horse. He's a huge improver. This time last year he looked like he was going to be just okay, but he's kept getting better."
The day's other Grade One, the Dial-A-Bet Chase went to the 9-1 Benefficient, winning his third top-flight prize at the track, who survived a lengthy stewards inquiry after crossing the runner up Hidden Cyclone after the last. "He seems to thrive around here," said Benefficient's trainer Tony Martin. "There are horses for courses and he's one for Leopardstown."
