In an eye-catching field of juvenile hurdlers, the Willie Mullins-trained Majborough came out on top to take the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle on Friday.
In an eye-catching field of juvenile hurdlers, the Willie Mullins-trained Majborough came out on top to take the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle on Friday.
The Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival proved to be the key form-line for the race, with both the first and third – Kargese and Majborough – re-opposing up the Cheltenham hill. Both trained by Willie Mullins, Majborough was expected to improve for his Irish and stable debut, having previously won in France, whilst Kargese set the standard as a comfortable winner of the Leopardstown contest.
Although the Kenny Alexander-owned mare Kargese produced a bold defence in receipt of a mares' allowance, the imposing Majborough improved with each yard of the two mile contest, grinding his way to victory under jockey Mark Walsh. The Gary Moore-trained Salver appeared to have nothing left as the field rounded the final bend, but came again gamely up the hill to hold onto third.
Winning trainer Mullins said: "I'm surprised at his price - 6/1 - I picked him to be favourite.
"All of mine have been improving all season for their second run. I couldn't get him out at Christmas; I got him out for the Dublin Racing Festival, and I was worried about that, but Mark [Walsh] learnt an awful lot about him. He came back into me and said, 'this guy can make all the running', and that was the plan today, but I think he was in about sixth all the way round - that's how strong the pace was; he couldn't even make it but he wanted to.
"He's a chaser, isn't he? When he came into the yard and they said he was our Triumph Hurdle horse, I said I thought he was a Gold Cup horse, a three-mile chaser. He's very 'trained' at the moment; a bit angular, like all the French horses, but when he comes in from a summer's grass, he will be some beast.
"This horse is so untypical of what a Triumph Hurdle horse is, and has a big jumping pedigree, but when we started to work him, he gallops more than has speed, and Danny had him for caught for speed coming round the last bend, but when Mark got off him the last day, he said, 'This fella jumps and gallops', and his intention today was to make it, and Danny's intention was to make the running, so it shows how fast the pace was that they were fifth or sixth the whole way. Then when Danny went on, I could see Mark still winding him up, and he went for one jump at the last and got that jump and just ground it out, as Mark said he would.
"He may well go novice chasing next season, although I don't really like doing that with a horse so young, so we'll see."
