Place De La Nation upsets Wodhooh at Punchestown

Place De La Nation led home a one-two for Willie Mullins in the SBK Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

Market focus was on Mares’ Hurdle heroine Wodhooh, who had beaten Jade De Grugy into second place at the Cheltenham Festival.

The two principals duly led, but Wodhooh never really looked like getting away from the others when she did take over and at the last it was clear Place De Nation and Danny Mullins had the most left and so it proved, as she stretched away to beat Jade De Grugy by a length and a half, with 8-11 favourite Wodhooh another four and a half lengths away in third.

With Mullins not in attendance as he continues to suffer with a sore back, it was his son and assistant Patrick who said of the Gigginstown-owned 10-1 winner: “She has been knocking on the door being placed at Cheltenham and in a Grade One at Fairyhouse, so is a high-class mare. That said, she did need the other two (Jade De Grugy and Wodhooh) to cut each other’s throats and that probably is what happened.

“We thought it would be hard to go up against the geldings in the novice race and while we had been trying to split up our runners, she wasn’t qualified to run in the Listed mares’ novice hurdle. This then looked the race she had the best chance of winning.

“I thought it was a great run by Jade De Grugy, but I think Paul (Townend) and Jack (Kennedy) probably ended up almost taking each other out. Danny got the fractions right as he always does and is lethal in that second-string role.”