Walsh thrilled with Douvan

Ruby Walsh was thrilled to see Douvan come through his final test before the Cheltenham Festival with flying colours.

The superstar chaser stretched his unbeaten record to 14 races since joining Willie Mullins with an effortless win in the Tied Cottage Chase at Punchestown on Sunday, strengthening his position at the head of the betting for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

"It's always a pleasure to ride him and I suppose all he could have done yesterday was blot his copybook, but he jumped and travelled well and did everything he had to do," Walsh told Racing UK.

"It was great to get it out of the way.

"Every day you go to the track something can go wrong, it's jump racing at the end of the day, but when you wanted him to stand off he did and he got in close when he wanted to. He quickened up smartly off the bend, I was delighted with him.

"He's like riding a really good car, every time you tap the accelerator he seems to go quicker and the brakes work as well. He's just very, very good.

"He's a straightforward ride, he's not keen, he has a wonderful cruising speed and a really good turn of foot.

"The Arkle he won probably wasn't the strongest ever, but when he went to Aintree in a stronger-run race he was much more impressive. He's just adaptable."

Asked whether he expected Douvan to one day run in a Gold Cup, Walsh replied: "When you look at human athletes, no one expects sprinters to run over 400 metres.

"We have this want in racing to test horses at every distance. Hopefully he'll be a champion at two miles, that seems to be what he's very good at."