Mullins labels glorious Galopin Des Champs his best ever after bumper day of high class fare

The raucous scenes of celebration at Leopardstown today will go down in the annals of horse racing, and not just because Galopin Des Champs joined Jodami, Florida Pearl and Beef Or Salmon as a three-time winner of the Grade 1 Paddy Power Gold Cup.

The crowds flocked to the Dublin venue to recognise one of jump racing’s all-time greats and he didn’t let them down with another powerful and resounding performance at odds of 1/2f.

Audrey Turley’s nine-year-old was serenaded into the winner’s enclosure to strains of ‘Olé! Olé! Olé! Olé!’ with jockey Paul Townend conducting.

It was a 14th triumph in the race for trainer Willie Mullins, who bagged three of the day’s four Grade 1s and labelled Galopin Des Champs the best he’d ever trained, as Day One of Dublin Racing Festival really delivered.

Final Demand (11/8f) got proceedings off to the perfect start for the champion trainer and Townend with a 12-length victory in the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy Solicitors Novice Hurdle.

Majborough (8/11f) was described as “a monster” by Mark Walsh after delivering Mullins’ second top-flight triumph in the Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase with nine lengths to spare.

Like Townend, Walsh was recording a double, having delivered Percival Legallois (15/2) late to score in the Listed Race And Stay At Leopardstown Handicap Hurdle.

The other Grade 1 of the day went the way of the exciting Hello Neighbour (85/40) in the Gannon’s City Recovery & Recycling Services Juvenile Hurdle. This was Gavin Cromwell’s first in Ireland since December 2020, while it was a third for jockey Keith Donoghue and first since he began working for the Danestown handler.

Sean O’Keeffe did the steering on An Peann Dearg (8/1) for Paul Nolan in the Listed Ryanair Handicap Chase, while the concluding Grade 2 Paddy Power Play Card Bumper went the way of the Noel Meade-trained Colcannon (9/2), who swooped over the top in trademark Derek O’Connor fashion to prevail.

With due respect to the other six winners, the day was all about the premier chaser on the planet.

Townend (as per earlier bulletin) spoke eloquently about the rarity of the type of reception Galopin Des Champs got and revealed that he could hear the excitement from the stands while jumping out in the country.

The margin of victory over stablemate Grangeclare West was only four and three-quarter lengths, but it was far more definitive than that, with another Closutton resident Fact Or File just being run out of the runner-up position.

Mullins hailed his scintillating champion.

“Paul has huge faith in him and said he was just going to jump out and go with him,” Mullins revealed.

“I thought we might make it with Embassy Gardens. There were four or five upsides him jumping the first but he had burned them off by the time he got to the third.

“He just jumped and galloped for three miles and it didn’t look like he was stopping coming up to the winning post. He’s just a real champion.

“They were all taking him on, they were plenty of horses up there and there was no diminishing the pace at all during the whole race."