Monalee wins easily under David Mullins© Photo Healy Racing
This time last week Henry de Bromhead and David Mullins teamed up to land the Goffs Thyestes Chase with Champagne West and, having enjoyed Grade 1 glory with Petit Mouchoir at Leopardstown on Sunday, the pair recorded another feature race win as Monalee took the Surehaul Mercedez-Benz Novice Hurdle in tremendous fashion at Clonmel.
The 6/4 favourite made light of the testing conditions, with 30mm of rain in recent days and high winds making this a stern test for both man and beast.
The three-mile Grade 3 event narrowed down to the Milan gelding and Battleford early in the straight but it was soon a mismatch as Mullins’ mount strode clear on the run-in.
He was an easy four and three quarter lengths clear at the line, with a yawning gap of 27 lengths further back to Woods Well in third.
De Bromhead said, “It was a really good performance and a super ride from David. I hoped he might do something like that. It was a competitive race and he did it really nicely.
“We think he wants better ground. He ran a savage race in a bumper at the Punchestown Festival last year. He’s a Milan and is a good moving horse.
“He’s entered in the Neptune and the Albert Bartlett, and we’ll see nearer the time. The Albert Bartlett would look the obvious race but there are a few things we need to consider like Death Duty! He has a bit of class as well.”
Paddy Power go 12/1 (from 20/1) for the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle.
