Willie Mullins' 4/5 favourite The Big Getaway banished memories of his chasing debut defeat at Navan with an impressive win in the Ballymaloe Foods Beginners Chase at Leopardstown.
Third in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham, he folded tamely on his reappearance when beaten into the same place by Conflated, but was a different proposition here.
Making all under Paul Townend he again jumped well and had the measure of only serious rival Cedarwood Road (4/1) soon after the last, going on to score by ten lengths.
The winning rider said: "He was at a good level over hurdles and by the size of him chasing is his game so we're delighted to get that out of the way today. He improved hugely for his first run and hopefully can improve again.
"Most of ours just took a run early in the season and are coming on for it and hopefully he can build on. I'd imagine around two-and-a-half miles is his trip, he covers a lot of ground and it's hard to tell how fast you're going on him because he has such a huge stride. We'll go home and find another race for him."
Sky Bet make him a 16/1 chance from 33s for the Marsh Novices' Chase at Cheltenham and 14s from 20s for the RSA. Betfair and Paddy Power are the same price from 33s for the latter.
“It was nice to get that out of the way and he jumped well,” said Mullins.
“We’ll look for a winners of one, but the way the program is, he’ll probably have to go up in grade now, maybe back here at the Dublin Racing Festival. The Flogas Chase could be an option for him.”
Mullins to the four
That performance continued Mullins’ domination of the Leopardstown Christmas meeting which had continued on Monday as Gaillard Du Mesnil initiated a four-timer in the Tote.ie Maiden Hurdle.
Beaten by Henry de Bromhead’s Holymacapony on his Irish debut, the French import looked in a different league on this occasion.
In what appeared a strong contest, the 11/8 favourite was on a tight rein throughout for Paul Townend and bounded almost 10 lengths clear of Mr Incredible.
He was cut to 16/1 from 40s for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle by Betfair.
“I was very impressed with him. The jump he put in at the second last showed how much he had in the tank,” said Mullins.
“He looks like a nice middle-distance horse and we’ll probably stay at that sort of trip with him. As he gets more racing I think he’ll settle better, he was a little keen with Paul. He wasn’t stopping at the end and was finishing out the race well.
“He’s a horse that will go up in grade easily enough, I think. I suppose we’ll look at the Dublin Racing Festival. It depends what we do with Appreciate It, as we’ll probably try to keep them apart.”
Fine and Dandy
Mullins and Townend then won the Pertemps Qualifier with 16/1 shot Dandy Mag.
Townend had plenty to do turning into the straight with at least 10 still in front of him, but Dandy Mag picked up in fine style to see off The Bosses Oscar to win by a length.
“It was a fantastic ride by Paul, who timed it perfectly,” said Mullins.
“He was off for a long time before his run at Naas. The ease in the ground and trip were a huge help to him today. I’m hoping that gives him his ticket now to run in the final. We haven’t had many runners in it and hopefully he goes there with a reasonable chance.”
Owners Joe and Marie Donnelly followed up a Kempton double on Sunday – which was headlined by Shishkin – as they saw their colours carried to victory on Gaillard Du Mesnil and The Big Getaway and there was more to come.
The Big Getaway, who ran so well behind Envoi Allen at Cheltenham in March, put a disappointing chasing debut behind him.
Sent off the 4-5 favourite in the Ballymaloe Foods Beginners Chase, he made every yard of the running for Townend, and his jumping got better the quicker he went.
Patrick Mullins then donned the Donnelly silks in the closing Midland Legal Solicitors INH Flat Race on the long-absent Ramillies (15/8 favourite).
An English point-to-point winner, he was a beaten favourite on his debut for the yard at this meeting 12 months ago, but did not need to come out of second gear this time.
“He’s a very nice horse. He did what I was hoping he’d do last year,” said Mullins.
“He looks top drawer and I’d imagine we’ll look to come back here for the Festival. The Grade Two bumper there would have to be the target.”