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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

Mullins and Townend double up with impressive Gaelic Warrior

Sat 25th Nov 2023, 16:36

Gaelic Warrior untroubled in winning by a wide marginGaelic Warrior untroubled in winning by a wide margin
© Photo Healy Racing

According to racecourse commentator Jerry Hannon "it's nothing but a Saturday stroll" for Gaelic Warrior in the beginners' chase at Punchestown and that was a more than apt description of proceedings.

The former Grade 1 winning hurdler was making his chasing bow in what was certainly an above average contest, but he demolished his 10 rivals.

The 4/11 favourite had the race won a long way out barring a fall. He turned for home to face the final two fences with a yawning chasm back to the remainder and sauntered home under Paul Townend by 15 lengths from Inothewayurthinkin (4/1) who finished in front of Senioe Chief (9/1).

The winner's jumping improved as the race developed and, afterwards, Paddy Power shortened him from 6/1f to 4/1f for the Brown Advisory and 7/1 from 10s for the Turners.

Willie Mullins said: “It was a very good performance, way better than I expected. I thought he was a bit novicey at one or two, but never looked like falling and he ran very fresh today.

“We all know he stays and he might go a longer trip but maybe after that performance I need to have a rethink about him. He’d have no problem going two and a half miles and two miles would be no problem to him either the way he ran there.

“We thought there would be a lot more pace in the race, but it seemed to evaporate and Paul was happy enough to make it.

“He was just a bit gassy today on his first run and maybe he will settle later on in the season.”

This brought up a double for Mullins and Townend who took the preceding race through Predators Gold

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.