Champ Kiely won the Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase | report and replay

The vaunted Ballyburn was sent off the 11/8 favourite despite his disappointing defeat in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with a change of tactics expected to bring about further improvement.

Paul Townend jumped Ballyburn off in a more prominent position and all seemed to be going smoothly for the market leader when Cheltenham winner Lecky Watson fell early, bringing down Impaire Et Passe. Ile Atlantique was the next whose jumping failed him and an intriguing race seemed rather less so.

However, it all changed in the straight as Ballyburn failed to respond as expected in the closing stages of this three mile Grade 1 and Champ Kiely, both trained by Willie Mullins, swept past under Danny Mullins to record a comfortable success.

The distance back to Ballyburn was six and a half lengths and he, in turn, was 11 lengths clear of Stellar Story in third.

Champ Kiely was running just nine days after finishing a well-beaten third behind Spindleberry at the Fairhouse Easter Festival on testing ground.

Mullins said: "Paul [Townend] rode him the last day and when he got off he said he needed it. He had to ride Ballyburn and rode him with different tactics and he just didn't jump well enough I think,that's all. The trip is no problem but he's not a natural steeplechaser."

When asked if that meant a return to hurdling for Ballyburn, Mullins replied: "I would say there would be a lot of thought put into that and at the moment I'd say that's the feeling. If he's not good enough to jump well enough in novice company, you're in open company next year and that's a bigger job, a harder job.

"We know he jumps hurdles fantastically and there might be a gap in the staying hurdle division for him. He's free going between his fences and then you have to squeeze him down into his fences so you're giving the horse the signal to go faster and it doesn't work because you want him to relax whereas over hurdles he can keep it up.

"They were going very fast. Danny could see what was going on. It's lovely when you're riding an outsider, it's much easier to ride a race from behind watching what's going on as he was. He said he was going to keep his powder dry and have one pounce at Ballyburn over the last and it worked.

"Paul surprised me when he got off him [Champ Kiely] and said he needed it so we said we'd run him back here and take our chance and he was right. He doesn't carry a lot of condition and I'm looking at him and I don't want to train him too hard because when a horse is light you can't just keep training them. So instead maybe a quick run and then let him run back."

It was a third Grade 1 in just nine days for Danny Mullins who said: "I could see plenty of the carnage behind me, horses dropping away and I looked round to see Ile Atlantique had gone as well. Halfway down the back I knew I was going to play a big part in this race and it was just a case of keeping a jumping rhythm from there.

"Ballyburn jumped sticky early but once we got past the winning post he got into a nice rhythm. Early I was trying to be off his tail but once he found his rhythm I was quite happy to be on his tail knowing that he was probably the one I had to beat and I thought he'd found his rhythm early enough that he'd give me a lot to think about.

"I thought I was [confident] but typical Paul. he had saved a bit off the bend and I thought I'd move up maybe a fraction easier and he quickened again the old fox but my lad put his head down between the last two and a good jump sealed it.

"I've won on this fellow before and I'd attack from the front end over shorter trips but a slight change of tactics today over this trip, I think, has brought out a career best."

On his good run, he added: "It's brilliant, I love riding under pressure and thankfully I get to deliver on some of these good horses and hopefully there's plenty more big winners in me."

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