RaceiQ at the Festival: Warrior goes where Djakadam could not

Gaelic Warrior was an utterly dominant winner of the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup to seal a famous double for Willie Mullins, Paul Townend and Rich Ricci after they had combined to win the Champion Hurdle earlier in the week with Lossiemouth.

The eight-year-old jumped best, stayed best and won in the fastest time (6min 39.02sec) since Sizing John triumphed in 2017.

On that occasion, nine years ago, Mullins and Ricci were represented by Djakadam, who threatened to justify favouritism before fading where it mattered most. But Gaelic Warrior, also sent off market leader, was not for stopping.

He flew over the first fence at 32.46mph, gaining almost two lengths in the air, and attacked the last of the 22 obstacles at just under 32mph, where he swiped another 2.44 lengths. And what came in between was similarly impressive.

Overall, he gained just over 11 lengths with his athletic leaping, earning a Jump Index score of 8.3. He negotiated eight of the 22 fences quicker than his opponents, being best at six of the last seven.

The 2024 Arkle winner also clocked the fastest furlong of the ten runners when clocking 13.12sec at the 3m stage.

Jango Baie, winner of the Arkle last year, also jumped well, gaining 10.45 lengths, but simply did not have the gears of the eight-length winner.

Inothewayurthinkin, the title holder, stuck to his task willingly to claim third.  He was second fastest over the final half mile but had forfeited his chance by losing ground over each of the first 13 fences.

Earlier, Mullins had pulled a rabbit out of the hat for the second year running in the JCB Triumph Hurdle, with Apolon De Charnie, having never previously run in Ireland or Britain, taking the spoils at 50-1.

A dozen horses clocked a top speed higher than the surprise winner, who peaked at 35.47mph, but none could stay on as strongly as him in the closing stages. He completed the final half mile in 57.19sec, sweeping to the front in the closing stages under the trainer’s son, Patrick, after being as far back as eleventh during the first half of the race.

The Mullins-trained Dinoblue, the 11-8 favourite, was much easier for punters to find as she retained her Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase crown. Her supporters will have had few anxious moments, with a pivotal moment coming six fences from home at the top of the hill.

Dinoblue “winged it” in the words of her jockey, Mark Walsh, whereas her main market rival, Panic Attack, got in close. There was a 1.72 length swing in that incident and, from then on, their duel was one-sided.

Overall, Dinoblue gained 8.11 lengths with her jumping and got a Jump Index score of 8.5, which was an improvement on the 8.1 she achieved 12 months earlier.

Her winning time was almost identical to that achieved by Heart Wood when he had landed the Ryanair Chase 24 hours earlier. And, of course, there had been 10mm of rain overnight.