Mengli Khan and Rachael Blackmore © Photo Healy Racing
The McHale Straw Blower & Silage Feeder Chase was won by Mengli Khan (3/1) who was very much on a going day and made all for a wide margin victory.
On board for the first time, Rachael Blackmore got him into a good rhythm and he came home 26 lengths in front of 5/4 favourite Livelovelaugh
Second favourite Thosedaysaregone seemed to lose confidence at his fences from an early stage and trailed throughout.
A Grade 1 winner as a novice hurdler when he won the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse, Gordon Elliott’s successful Lope De Vega 7-year-old won his first chase at Punchestown in November 2018 but this was his first win over the larger obstacles since then.
He’s part of a sizeable draft of Gigginstown House Stud-owned horses due to be sold later this month at Doncaster in the Goffs UK September Horses-in-Training Sale.
Winning rider Blackmore (who picked up a one-day ban for unnecessarily using her whip when the race was clearly won) remarked: "He was very good.
“It was Eddie’s (O’Leary) instructions to ride him like that. He was spot on and it worked."
Additional reporting by Eamonn Murphy
