Tully East likely to head to Punchestown following Festival triumph

Tully East will go in search of further riches at the Punchestown Festival following last week's tremendous display at Cheltenham.The Alan Fleming-trained seven-year-old was delivered with a perfectly-timed challenge by Denis O'Regan and was well on top in the closing stages of the Close Brothers Novices' Handicap Chase." It was great to see him do what he did and there's not a bother on him since.He was unlucky the previous year in the Martin Pipe (Conditional Jockeys' Hurdle) and sometimes you don't get a second bite of the cherry," said owner Barry Connell. "Luckily we managed to get him in that race, he went into it in great form and it all worked out on the day. "There's another valuable novice handicap at the Punchestown Festival, so I think that's the way we'll go."You'd like to think he could go back to Cheltenham next season. He seems to like the place and as we've seen many times before, course form is very important there."He's done his job for this season and anything else he achieves is a bonus."