Love Sign d’Aunou powers to the top of Cheltenham Bumper reckoning

Love Sign d’Aunou is the new favourite for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper following a sparkling debut under rules at Naas.

Carrying the familiar colours of Rich and Susannah Ricci, the point-to-point winner was a 5-4 favourite for the Aloga Equestrian (Pro/Am) Flat Race and galloped his rivals into submission from the front, coming home with 24 lengths in hand under Patrick Mullins.

Love Sign d’Aunou was cut to 5-1 from 20-1 to provide Willie Mullins with a record-extending 15th Champion Bumper success at the Cheltenham Festival in March, with his rider saying afterwards: “He was very good, he doesn’t quite show that at home. I think he’s probably relentless and has a really high cruising speed.

“Jasmin De Vaux won this bumper before he won in Cheltenham (in 2024), but he’d be a very different type of horse to him.

“He’s a relentless galloper, a big strong horse.

“I’d imagine he’s a Cheltenham horse. He could be along the lines of Florida Pearl, those Cheltenham bumper horses.”

Love Sign d’Aunou’s victory was the middle leg of a treble on the card for champion trainer Mullins, with his nephew Danny steering French recruit Kai Lung (6-1) to success in the Nursery Of Champions Maiden Hurdle, before Argento Boy (5-2 favourite) and Paul Townend struck Grade Three gold in the Finlay Ford At Naas Novice Chase.

Mullins’ assistant, David Casey, said: “Kai Lung did it well. It wasn’t the plan to make the running, but it looked like there was no pace and he can be a little keen so Danny thought he’d settle a bit in front.

“He was still a bit gassy, but he jumped well and I thought it was a good performance in the end in that ground.”

Argento Boy is 40-1 from 66-1 from the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase with Paddy Power, who also make him an 8-1 shot from 12-1 for the National Hunt Chase.

“That was good, he kept galloping well. Paul said he enjoys those extreme distances and the ground wasn’t an issue,” Casey added.

“He said he travels better and attacks his fences better than he did hurdles.

“He’ll probably be entered in all the chases at Cheltenham and I said to Paul the Irish Grand National might be a race for him, but we’ll see.”

Another horse with Cheltenham Festival ambitions is the Tom Cooper-trained Shuttle Diplomacy (11-4) after he stamped his class on the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle.

“He’s a proper one when he’s right,” said Cooper.

“There is a mixture of speed and stamina in his pedigree and I’d say he’ll probably rock up in Cheltenham now. The Turners (Novices’ Hurdle) would be the one obvious one.”