Al Boum Photo coasted to another easy success in the Savills New Year's Day Chase at Tramore, his traditional prep race for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Willie Mullins' horse was winning the Grade 3 chase for the fourth successive year and on two other occasions he's gone on to win the Blue Riband event at the Cheltenham Festival.
Last year he could only manage third behind the Henry de Bromhead-trained pair of Minella Indo and A Plus Tard at Cheltenham, but both of those horses suffered defeats this festive period.
The Joe Donnelly-owned 10-year-old has done his Gold Cup prospects no harm by keeping his powder dry, but the bookmakers didn't think he enhanced his claims at Tramore, with both Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power keeping him unchanged at 14/1 for Cheltenham.
That's because he only took on three inferior stablemates at Tramore and obliged at odds of 1/6, but he showcased his well being and put in a good jump at the last to seal matters.
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Mullins said: “He fluffed one fence but did everything else right. Paul said he was just a bit idle in front.
“I’d like to get another run into him but we’ll have to see (how he is).
“Burrows Saint ran a cracker and I thought he was going to be a danger, but when Paul pressed the button it was all over.
“Brahma Bull ran well for a horse that would probably hate that ground. Acapella Bourgeois was disappointing so we’ll have to see what we do with him.”
Mullins and Townend were completing a double after the victory of El Fabiolo in the opening David Flynn Construction Maiden Hurdle.
Sent off the 2/7 favourite, El Fabiolo came home 13 lengths clear on what was his debut for Mullins and first run in Ireland having previously been trained in France.
Mullins said: “He’s a nice recruit for (owners) Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. He shows me plenty at home and Paul said he was going easy at all stages.
“He does everything easy at home and showed me the same here.”
When asked how he would compare with previous maiden hurdle winners for the yard at this track like Laurina and Saint Roi, he added: “He’s as good as any of them.”