Henry de Bromhead’s 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero made a successful return to action in the Irish Daily Star – Best For Racing Coverage Chase at Punchestown.
Henry De Bromhead's runner hadn't been seen being pulled-up when attempting to defend his Gold Cup crown at Cheltenham in March but despite that, the now ten-year-old was well-backed throughout the course of the day and eventually sent off the 15/8 favourite to make a successful reappearance.
Regular rider Rachael Blackmore soon found herself at the head of affairs jumping smoothly and always looked to be travelling kinder than the Giggingstown pair – multiple Grade 1-winner Delta Work and last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup third Conflated.
Minella Indo had his rivals in trouble jumping the second last and whilst the outsider of the quintet Hurricane Georgie cut the gap to a length and three-quarters at the line, Henry de Bromhead's charge always had matters under control.
De Bromhead said: "He's given us so many great days and I'm delighted to see him start his season like that. His work was really good, but it was also good before the Gold Cup, and it just didn't happen for him there. It was a messy start, and it just didn't happen for him.
"He jumped from fence to fence today, his ears were pricked, and Rachael said he really enjoyed it. I'm also delighted that Barry [Maloney, owner] is here as well.
"We entered him in the north [Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal] but that's only a couple of weeks away, so we'll see. We can enjoy today and decide in the next couple of weeks what we want to do.
"The Grand National is something we can discuss. Coming here after the Gold Cup, we couldn't make any big plans, but we're really encouraged now for the rest of the season."
Betfair gave the winner a 50-1 quote to land a second Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March, whilst Paddy Power introduced him at 40/1 for the 2024 Grand National at Aintree a month later.
Earlier on the card, Hercule Du Seuil battled on strongly to produce a fifth-straight success over fences in the Grade 3 BetVictor Proud Sponsors Of Irish Racing Novice Chase at Punchestown.
The Willie Mullins-trained runner was pestered throughout by Lucid Dreams and although Hercule Du Seuil looked to have the race in safe hands jumping the second last, he soon had to fight off a late challenge from the fast-finishing Senecia, who got to within a neck of the 4/11 favourite crossing the line.
Mullins said: "Lucid Dreams kept him honest the whole way and Mark had to change to plan B and drop him in behind. He jumped well when Mark needed him and it's a great performance to win five in a row.
"If the weather stays dry, we might get another run into him, and we could then give him a mid-season break and come back in the spring.
"I'd rather keep him to the minimum trip if I could, but he can go out to two and a half. Mark felt maybe he didn't want the ground as soft as it was today."
