Townend times things to perfection on Absurde in County exhibition

Paul Townend produced to perfection as last year’s Ebor hero got the better of L’Eau Du Sud in the BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle at the Festival.

Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton have dominated this event in the last decade, winning eight of the last nine runnings between them, so it was no surprise to see the week’s top two trainers involved at the business end once again.

Paul Nicholls’ Afadil had led the field into the straight where Skelton’s 7-2 favourite L’Eau Du Sud appeared to be travelling supremely in the hands of the trainer’s brother, Harry.

However, Townend was weaving a passage to the front and after the last it was Closutton’s dual-purpose star who pulled out extra to land the spoils at 12-1.

As well as winning the Ebor when given an equally-inspired ride by Frankie Dettori, Absurde finished seventh in the Melbourne Cup, and Townend said: “I got a lot of satisfaction out of that one. What a horse to travel the world and then come back and put in a performance like that on that ground.

“I thought I’d have the pace of them all on his Flat form, but the ground was a big worry.”

Mullins said: “Paul can’t have a warm bone in his body, he was so cold the whole way and delivered him at the right time. He just missed the last but everything else went right.

“I was very worried about the ground, that’s why I thought Risk Belle was the best of my squad, I’d more or less drawn a line through him.

“They went very slow and his Flat speed was a big factor at the end. When I saw where he was early on I thought it wasn’t the place to be, but they were doing 18-second furlongs so I thought he might have a chance.

“He had to find his way through and while he missed the last, it was one hell of a ride, it was the ride of the week for me.

“He’ll probably go to Punchestown and then back on the Flat I’d have thought. It might be hard to qualify for Melbourne – I’d like to go though.”

Skelton said of his runner-up: “Ten or 15 strides out from the last I thought it was on, but Townend suddenly appeared!

“We didn’t jump the last great, but it hasn’t cost us. Absurde was always cantering over us and if we’d jumped the last Townend would have looked even cleverer than he did, which is a big statement because he looked very clever coming from last!

“It’s been a magic, remarkable week. I’m very proud of the owners and horses.”

Dan Skelton, trainer of runner-up L''eau Du Sud, said: “I did think, 10, 15 strides out [from the last] that it was on. We didn’t jump the last great, but it didn’t cost us - Absurde was cantering all over us. He was always going to catch us. If we’d have jumped the last, Townend would have looked even cleverer than he did, which is a big statement, because he looked very clever coming from last on that one!

“It’s been magic - a remarkable week, and I’m very, very proud of horses, owners, staff and everyone.”

Harry Skelton, rider of runner-up L''eau Du Sud, said: “We're delighted with our horse. Sometimes there’s one better on the day, and that was that.”

Asked about the slow pace of the race, he nodded and said: “We were lined up in the start, in the County Hurdle, and no one wanted to make the running, which is very peculiar.

“We’re excited about this horse going chasing. The horse deserves to get one, and he’s quite lightly raced, so we might think about Aintree or something like that.”