Galopin Des Champs gained a deserved first victory in the Ladbrokes
Cup with a superlative performance.
Denied a third Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month, the Willie Mullins-trained star was out to prevent an unwanted hat-trick in this race, having been second to Fastorslow for the past two years.
The nine-year-old looked much happier than he did at Cheltenham all the way through this time, jumping for fun at the head of affairs and leading his rivals a merry dance in the hands of
.
Monty’s Star was the first to cry enough under Rachael Blackmore and then Joseph O’Brien’s King George winner Banbridge began to struggle.
Spillane’s Tower was still on the bridle at the fourth-last, but just when Mark Walsh would have been hoping to make his move, he failed to pick up, making quite a bad mistake.
With Walsh still seemingly going well enough, Townend kicked on and Spillane’s Tower had to meet the next fence perfectly to have a chance, but failed to do so and the race was over.
Galopin Des Champs pinged the last and the 5-6 favourite came home 22 lengths clear, to rapturous applause from those in attendance.