A truly great day’s racing was finished off in style by DUNGUIB who put up a breathtaking performance to claim the concluding Bumper to confirm himself as a very exciting prospect indeed.
Always travelling kindly through the race, Dunguib powered clear two furlongs out, when his young jockey finally gave him his head. The decent ground here clearly suited just as well, if not better, than the very soft surfaces he has been running on previously and on this evidence he will be very hard to beat in next season’s Supreme Novices Hurdle.
The rest were playing for second from a long way out and Some Present finally secured that berth after a decent tussle with Rite Of Passge in the final furlong. The runner up ran slightly green, both when rounding the final bend and when coming under pressure in the closing stages, so there could be more to come from him.
Rite Of Passage boxed on well for third after trying to go with the winner turning in. He may well stay further in time and has a likeable attitude.
Quel Esprit proved best of the eight runners trained by Willie Mullins. He has clearly been showing plenty at home as he was Ruby Walsh’s pick, but after travelling nicely for the early part of the race he was caught a bit flat footed at the business end of the contest. He already has a point to point victory to his name so his future lies over further and / or fences.
There was a long way back to the fifth, the mare, Morning Supreme who led for much of the way but ruined her chances by pulling too hard early on. In the circumstances, she did well to finish as close as she did.
Cranky Corner caught the eye in seventh. He was going as well as anything bar the leader at the bottom of the hill, but weakened in the final furlong. He likes good ground and will jump fences in time.
Amazingly, you had to go back to the ninth placed horse, Pepe Simo, to find the first of the home trained contingent.
A couple were heavily eased once their chances had gone, most notably Sicilian Secret (who is nicely bred for this game) and Henry KIng. Both could yet have bright futures.