LAST UPDATE | 15 Mar 2024

PAUL TOWNEND PRODUCED Absurde to perfection as last year’s Ebor hero got the better of L’Eau Du Sud in the BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton have dominated this event in the last decade, winning eight of the last nine runnings between them, so it was no surprise to see the week’s top two trainers involved at the business end once again.

Paul Nicholls’ Afadil had led the field into the straight where Skelton’s 7-2 favourite L’Eau Du Sud appeared to be travelling supremely in the hands of the trainer’s brother, Harry.

However, Townend was weaving a passage to the front and after the last it was Closutton’s dual-purpose star who pulled out extra to land the spoils at 12-1.

Mullins said: “Paul can’t have a warm bone in his body, he was so cold the whole way and delivered him at the right time. He just missed the last but everything else went right.

“I was very worried about the ground, that’s why I thought Risk Belle was the best of my squad, I’d more or less drawn a line through him.

“They went very slow and his Flat speed was a big factor at the end. When I saw where he was early on I thought it wasn’t the place to be, but they were doing 18-second furlongs so I thought he might have a chance.

“He had to find his way through and while he missed the last, it was one hell of a ride, it was the ride of the week for me.

“He’ll probably go to Punchestown and then back on the Flat I’d have thought. It might be hard to qualify for Melbourne – I’d like to go though.”

Earlier, Majborough announced himself as a star of the future as he toughed it out to land a Mullins-dominated JCB Triumph Hurdle.

Held in the highest regard by the master of Closutton, the juvenile went into plenty of notebooks when an eyecatching third behind Kargese at the Dublin Racing Festival, and it was that duo who fought out the finish at Prestbury Park.

With Danny Mullins keen to keep a tight hold on Kargese, Mark Walsh cut a relaxed figure aboard the JP McManus-owned Majborough and after the second-last they were chief among the Mullins-trained battalion that emerged to swamp the forward-going Salver.

Heading to the last it appeared Kargese held the advantage as Majborough wandered around, but they jumped the final flight in unison, after which the stamina reserves of the 6-1 winner came into play as he was pushed out by his rider to strike by a length and a half.

It was McManus’ third win in the Triumph Hurdle following the victories of Ivanovich Gorbatov and Defi Du Seuil and it continues the Closutton dominance of the race, with Mullins winning it for the fourth time in five years.

He said: “I’m surprised at his price of 6-1 – I expected him to be favourite, he was my pick of this race.

“A lot of mine have been improving all season for their second run. I couldn’t get him out at Christmas, but I got him out at the Dublin Racing Festival and I think he needed that and I think Mark learned a lot about him.

“He came back in and said he was going to make all the running on him next time, which was the plan today and he was only fifth or sixth going round, so that shows how strong the pace was, but he jumped beautifully.

“When he came in the yard and they said he was a Triumph hope, I thought he looked more like a Gold Cup horse – he’s some beast.”