Il Etait Temps is a Punchestown-Cheltenham double | racing news

Il Etait Temps once again proved his class as he added the William Hill Champion Chase at the Punchestown Festival to his two-mile crown at Cheltenham, winning at the highest level for the eighth time.

Marine Nationale, who completed the same double 12 months earlier, took the field alongside Majborough and Paul Townend happily placed the Willie Mullins-trained Il Etait Temps among the five runners.

Townend gave Il Etait Temps time to find his stride again after his previous mistake and started to get low in the saddle aboard the 8-11 favorites as he closed in on three from home.

He then steamrolled his way out of the Marines, whose campaign was halted, and won five in a row with the veteran Energumene maintaining a distant but creditable third place, after which he promptly retired.

Mullins said of his winner: “He’s a really great horse. When you look at him, he doesn’t scream a big chaser. He’s not a big horse, but he’s strong.

“He made some mistakes, but he has so much reserve that when he came out next to Marin National in the third leg, I thought, ‘Wow.’ Marin National is a good horse to beat because he has a good engine.

“It was special to do what Paul did when he was in top jockey mode, coming off Ascot (the Clarence House Chase in January) and then coming back to win at Cheltenham.

“Mayborough needs a longer trip. He would be better off going slow and getting his act together rather than a longer tip.”

Retiring 12-year-old Energumene, who has won the Punchestown-Cheltenham double twice in his fine career, he added: “He retired brilliantly and ran a cracker. He gave us all a wonderful day out at Fairyhouse (at Easter) when he got back some years.

“It was a bit too sunny for him today but he still put up a great battle. Winning his first Champion Chase at Cheltenham is a great memory. He had great speed and jumping ability and that made him stand out.”

Meanwhile, Nationale’s trainer Barry Connell said: “I’m happy to be playing, but he hasn’t bounced the ball this year. He’s played fantastically well with the ball piece on and his feet are perfect, but I’d say he’s a bit flat.

“Usually when he lands in the penultimate spot, speed is his forte and he seemed to run a little flat. All the credit goes to the winners and they went a lot further than the rest.”

“I don’t think his identity has affected him and I knew the work of Eachtotheirown (winner of the Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle earlier that day) was good, but Marine Nationale did some good work at Fairyhouse three or four weeks ago, but his work has been decent since then.

“My own inclination is that he is a bit blunt but that doesn’t take anything away from the winner. There is no doubt he was a worthy winner on the day.

“This will set us up for a good season next season and hopefully a bit of luck with him.”

Western Fold took the Grade 1 win from Elliott and Kennedy.

Western Fold boosted his bid for the Trainers’ Championship as Gordon Elliott topped the race for the Dooley Insurance Group champion Novice Chase at Punchestown.

Brown Advisory hero Kitzbuhel took the lead in the Grade 1 event but faded towards the end of the business with July Flower taking the place heading to the final fence.

Western Fold was in a much better position to take the lead with Fleur In The Park and Nowwhatdoyouthink, with the quartet putting up a fierce battle and Kitzbuhel taking the lead.

But in the end it was the much stronger 18-1 Elliott in the hands of Jack Kennedy who won the €73,625 first place prize by three quarters of a length from Andrew Slattery’s Fleur In The Park.

Elliott said: “It’s good. I was nervous about running three miles, but we’ve ridden him so conveniently the last two times we’ve tested him. Today we rode him cold and it was a good performance. Some horses have their season over now, but he’s been busier than most and is one of the top five horses this season.

“At first we thought about entering the American Grand National, a race that Zanahiyr won for us last year. We tried the Western Fold in open company in Ireland and were not successful, but the American race is Grade 1 so it is nothing to sneeze at.

“That’s not to say we won’t go to America, but the PWC Champion Chase at Gowran in October is also for him and maybe we can hunt. This horse’s key is on the ground and he does better on it.”

He added: “He will now get some rest. I would love to get back to the Galway plate, but after today his weight may be too high.”

Each man has his own 16-1 surprise in Punchestown.

Eachtotheirown made all the stops to win the Grade 1 PRL Champion Novice Hurdle on the opening day of the Punchestown Festival.

Sean Flanagan immediately sent the seven-year-old to the front of the field and saw no other rivals as his 16-1 shot sprinted home 4.4 lengths ahead of Blake.

El Cairos, the favorite, took on two flights but was unable to keep pace with prisoner Barry Connell and was soon treading water. Eachtotheirown saw Blake and Le Labo fourth at level with the Gordon Elliott-trained El Cairos.

The winner won just one home in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle which prompted Connell to change tactics.

He explained: “He was ranked high on the last day so the obvious thing to do was to get him forward and he got a free. It’s a good horse, he’s only got over the hurdles a few times but he’s a chaser and he’s a big stamp of a horse so we had to wait for him.

“He was like a chaser over hurdles today and had a good engine.”

Paddy Power gave Eachtotheirown a quotation of 40-1 for Arkle, with Connell confirming: “Arkle Chase is at the forefront of my mind for him next season as he is a thorough two-miler who doesn’t like to be held back. He was a slow burner and they didn’t gallop at Supreme on the final day and to be fair to Sean he left him to go home and came here on a fresh horse.

“Next season he will be back for the novice chase before the ground runs out and he will go to Leopardstown twice before Cheltenham.”

Kalix Delabarriere stormed home unscathed en route to taking the Listed Killashee Hotel Handicap Hurdle.

I’m Slippy jumped the final flight with a slight advantage over Kalix Delabarriere and Messerschmitt, but the Willie Mullins-trained Kalix Delabarriere (10-1) quickly took the race on the run-in, drawing four lengths from I’m Slippy.

Mullins said: “It was fantastic for Sean Cleary-Farrell and the owners to win a big handicap hurdle at the Fairyhouse Festival and come back to Punchestown in such style. “We’ve put him out now and I think he’ll be back again next season, but we may have to move him up a class.

“He disappointed me two years ago when I thought he would make a really good bumper horse, but it took me another 18 months to get him right. He’s from Galliway and probably not what the breeders had in mind for him, but he’s a lovely big type and has that kick at the end of a race.”

Martin Brassil’s Abbeyglen (11-2) was an impressive winner of the Goffs Defender bumper, beating Mullins’ Altesse Du LuY by five and a half lengths to claim the €59,000 winner’s purse.

Brassil said: “It was great to get him here today and everything worked out well. We had him in mind because he’s a big, leggy horse and he achieved what we hoped for. He showed some form at home and we were delighted for him to take his chance.

“He will rest now as we want to get him a little more mature to be able to withstand the rigors of jumping. He is a very exciting horse with a lovely pedigree.”

Meanwhile, Brassil shared the news on stable star Fastorslow, adding of the remaining chasers: “He’s still on the easy list but hopefully we’ll see him in the autumn/winter. He’ll be back in training around July or August as usual.”