Going - Good to Yielding. Overcast
Jackpot Pool - €73,826.00 Dividend - €6,921.20 Winning Units - 8. Placepot Pool - €25,649.53 Dividend - €1,006.80 Winning Units - 19.1. Daily Double Pool - €915.00 Not Won. Carried forward to Leopardstown on Wednesday 28th December. Pick Six Pool - €5,305.50 Not Won. Carried forward to Leopardstown on Wednesday 28th December. Days Aggregate - €477,837.85 (7 races). Last Year €567,510.00 (8 races).
Chill shows a cool head to win
Chill travelled well and jumped well and the blinkers woke him up a bit. He wanted that bit of nicer ground.
McCoy and The Way We Were score
His jumping is his forte and I was delighted with the way he battled in the long run-in. It's obviously very unfortunate for the connections of the horse on the ground (Miktalina) but an extra hurdle would have suited our fellow. He'll go for a winners of one now and he'll probably make a nice chaser in time.
Big Zeb a true champion
It was always going to develop into a bit of a sprint from the second last and luckily enough he met the last two spot on. I'm delighted with the manner that he did it in even at this stage of his career. He still has enough pace and he seems to have plenty of his old sparkle. I would imagine he would go for the Tied Cottage Chase at Punchestown and we'll see how we go from there. He deserves another crack at the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He looks better this season. His coat is better and he seems a better horse.
Cash And Go banks a big pot
It's not a big surprise as we were very hopeful beforehand. It's funny the way things work out. Andrew was on standby as third choice after Barry [Geraghty] had to ride in England and if Paul [Townend] was required by Willie [Mullins]. He gave him a lovely ride. The Supreme Novices Hurdle looks like his race at Cheltenham. They generally get the easier ground on the first day of the Festival and that should be OK. He's only a four-year-old so he needs to be looked after a bit.
Cass Bligh and Ruby strike
Really he's a spring or autumn horse as he doesn't want real winter ground. He may go for the big handicap hurdle here next month. I have ten horses riding out at the moment in the yard.
Cross makes excellent Appeal
I was annoyed he got put up four pounds for his run in the Troytown but if he hadn't been put up he wouldn't have got in today. The better ground was a big help to him. He jumped from fence to fence and he was quite incredible. The owner John Corr was here yesterday but he has a bit of a cold and couldn't make it here today. We'll probably give him six weeks of rest and the Irish National is something we will have to think about.
Ballycasey gives Mullins some solace
I'm delighted to get a winner on a day when we've had a lot of disappointment. He's a staying chaser in the making and will probably go novice hurdling straight away.
