Horse_amp_amp_Hound__06_February_2018

RACING
LEOPARDSTOWN
3-4 February
Supasundae (red hat) reels in
Faugheen en route to a 2 1 ⁄4-length
victory in the Irish Champion Hurdle
‘Robbie Power
was sure
when he had
Faugheen in his
sights, he’d pick
him up — it was
some prep race’
JESSICA HARRINGTON ON
SUPASUNDAE
MIRACLE EDWULF
SCORES UNLIKELY WIN
THE Grade One Unibet Irish
Gold Cup did not look the greatest
race on paper. It contained a
number of the usual suspects,
including Outlander, Djakadam,
the Irish National winner Our
Duke — trying to get back to form
after injury — and Killultagh Vic.
On what was otherwise
a big weekend for Willie Mullins,
he had no luck in this race as
Killultagh Vic was coming
through to win the race when
he fell at the last. That appeared
to open it up for Outlander,
however, it was the Joseph
O’Brien-trained Edwulf — a 33/1
shot patiently ridden by crack
amateur Derek O’Connor — who
outstayed him up the run-in to
win by a neck.
After running in last year’s
four-miler at Cheltenham,
Edwulf suffered oxygen depletion,
collapsed and was on the floor
for over an hour. It is testament
to Cheltenham’s vets that he is
alive, let alone winning at the
top level.
“It didn’t look good at
Cheltenham,” recalled O’Brien.
“But the Cheltenham vets did a
terrific job and encouraged us
that he might recover. He was at
Cheltenham for two weeks before
he came home and I can’t stress
enough the job the vets did. We
started him off at Christmas,
when he just got tired having
been off so long.”
Gold Cup-wise a more telling
result may have been the victory of
the Ladbroke Trophy winner Total
Recall, who claimed the William
Fry Hurdle — his first start since
his win at Newbury in December.
He will go for the Bobbyjo Chase
at Fairyhouse, traditionally more
of a National trial, before Mullins
thinks about the Gold Cup.
SUNDAE’S SUPER SCALP
FAUGHEEN, meanwhile, was out
to put himself back on track for
the Champion Hurdle in the
BHP Insurance Irish Champion
Hurdle and it was certainly better
than his run at Christmas, when
he pulled up. However, finishing
two-and-a-quarter lengths
second to Supasundae — a horse
ostensibly having a warm-up for
the Stayers’ Hurdle — was some
way short of his best.
“I’m disappointed,” said Willie
Mullins. “It wasn’t half as bad as
his run here in December. He had
no spark and he’s going to have to
improve a lot if he is to get back to
anything like he was.”
Supasundae, trained by Jessica
Harrington for the late Alan
and Ann Potts, won last season’s
Coral Hurdle and will now go
to the Stayers’, for which he is
now joint-favourite with Sam
Spinner. Though he clearly gets
three miles, he is yet to win over
it — having been narrowly beaten
by Yanworth at Aintree and
Apple’s Jade at Leopardstown
at Christmas.
“It was basically a sharpener
for the Stayers’,” Harrington said.
“I’ve never seen him jump so well
and he was always travelling —
I thought they might go too quick
for him over two miles but they
didn’t. Robbie Power was sure
when he had Faugheen in his
sights he would pick him up and
he did. When he jumped the last
he pricked his ears and galloped
all the way to the line.”
She added: “It was some prep.
He’s only in the three-mile race
at Cheltenham and that’s where
he will go. He’s a much better
horse on better ground and
doesn’t like slogging around on
heavy, which is why he is so much
better in the spring.”
Total Recall (Paul Townend, red) warms up for the Cheltenham Gold Cup with a winning run over hurdles
Pictures by Getty Images
66 Horse & Hound 8 February 2018