Leopardstown stunned as Kaid d’Authie upstages Final Demand

Kaid d’Authie upstaged his stablemate Final Demand to land the Ladbrokes Novice Chase at Leopardstown.

Winner of five of his six previous starts and impressive in winning his first two starts over fences, Final Demand was all the rage to complete his hat-trick under Paul Townend as the 30-100 favourite.

The seven-year-old led his three rivals for much of the two-mile-five-furlong contest, but his jumping was entirely fluent and it was clear he had a real race on his hands when joined by fellow Willie Mullins-trained runner Kaid d’Authie (5-1) on the approach to the third fence from home.

Carrying the colours of JP McManus in the hands of Mark Walsh, Kaid d’Authie kicked clear before the home turn and found plenty on the run-in to beat the staying-on Western Fold by four and a quarter lengths, with Final Demand weakening to finish a disappointing last of three as the other Mullins runner, Jimmy Du Seuil, crashed out at the final obstacle.

Mullins said: “Kaid d’Authie was always a horse that showed me a lot at home. I’d think just putting cheekpieces on him has made a huge difference. It’s bringing out the sort of ability that he shows me at home.

“He’s a horse that’s always been disappointing to me, on the racetrack. The cheekpieces just made a big difference to him.

“Mark said he only made one bit of a mistake, at the third last, but he said otherwise he was foot perfect.”

Kaid d’Authie was cut to 4-1 from 16-1 in Paddy Power’s non-runner no bet market for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, while Final Demand was eased to 4-1 from evens.

Of Final Demand, Mullins added: “I was just disappointed the way he jumped the second and third fences. He missed the fifth last and when a horse does that in a race like that he has to improve quickly and he didn’t.

“He went on and did the same at the next. To me that was not good enough.

“Paul said he twisted a little bit in the air. I couldn’t see that as I didn’t watch the head-on, I like watching them sideways. There might be some little niggle there that we’re not seeing, we might see it tomorrow morning.

“I just think he didn’t show that enthusiasm that he normally does.”