Galopin Des Champs produced a workmanlike performance to land the Irish Gold Cup for the second time at Leopardstown on Saturday, consolidating his position as antepost favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
With only four runners, jockey Paul Townend chose to take the lead aboard last year's Gold Cup winner, who was looking for back-to-back victories after an emphatic Savills Chase success over the festive period. The Martin Brassil-trained Fastorslow, who had beaten Galopin Des Champs on their previous two meetings, sat in second with Conflated and I Am Maximus third and fourth respectively.
There was little change to the order throughout the race, with I Am Maximus struggling to keep the pace with the front trio. As the leading three rounded the final bend, both Fastorslow and Conflated mounted a challenge but the task became easier for Galopin Des Champs as Conflated unseated Jack Kennedy at the final fence. He kept on well to beat Fastorslow by four-and-a-half lengths with I Am Maximus completing for a distant third.
"It was a terrific performance. He did it the hard way, out in front and jumped from fence to fence," said Willie Mullins.
"He didn't wait around for anyone and did everything right. Paul was very happy with him.
"He set his own pace, which is hard to do on soft ground. Paul made sure that he was going to go fast enough and try to suck the energy out of the ones behind, which he did.
"We thought Conflated might make the running, but from the early stages we knew that wasn't the way. Paul just had to grab the race by the horns, he did and it worked out.
"I thought for a minute from the fifth-last to the third-last that J J Slevin's body language was looking very good and he was confident in the horse he was riding.
"When Paul poured a little bit on and got a great jump at the second-last you could see the distress signals coming out and Paul was still happy. He was able to dictate in front.
"Gold Cups are always important and it's nice to win another one for Greg and Audrey (Turley, owners). It's tremendous prize-money and a tremendous day here in Leopardstown.
"Some people think it's a trial for Cheltenham, but for me it's a race in its own right. They need to be respected and raced for. I bring my best horses here to do that.
"I thought I'd never have a horse good enough to run in the race, never mind win it different years, but that's the way the thing has grown and we're very lucky."
Paddy Power reacted to the performance by shortening Galopin Des Champs from 10/11 favourite to 8/13 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
