Paul Townend ended up on the floor from his sole St Stephen’s Day ride but the champion jockey made up for it in style with a clean sweep of Leopardstown’s big races on Sunday.
A Grade 1 double for Willie Mullins on Chacun Pour Soi and Appreciate It was topped with victory for the trainer-jockey combination in the €150,000 Paddy Power Chase through top-weight Castlebawn West.
The 13-2 shot made light of 11.10 and cut out all the running to turn the winning of one of the most coveted handicaps of the year look an almost straightforward exercise.
It was very different to 24 hours earlier when Townend dramatically crashed out of Limerick’s St Stephen’s Day feature on the odds-on Asterion Forlonge.
Limerick’s Sunday programme was cancelled due to waterlogging although Townend was committed to Leopardstown anyway.
“There are two big days left but we can’t go into them in any higher spirits!” he joked afterwards.
Considering his weight-carrying exploits, Grand National options at both Aintree and Fairyhouse are in Castlebawn West’s future although expectations for his stable companions are just as heady.
Sunday's action wound up with Chacun Pour Soi firmly on top of the two-mile chase division.
Robbed of the chance to line up in last season’s Queen Mother Champion Chase due to a rogue foot abscess on the morning of the race, he is now as short as 5-4 favourite to fill in the one major hole in his trainer’s big-race CV.
That status is a consequence of both his own smooth success in the Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown and defeat for Altior at Kempton 90 minutes later.
The formerly dominant two-mile champion had been beaten just once before in 16 previous starts over fences yet had no answer to the 20-1 winner Nube Negra in the Desert Orchid Chase.
Chacun Pour Soi’s only defeat over fences had come a year previously in the same Leopardstown race.
This time, however, the fragile but flamboyant runner made no mistake, proving much too good for the Henry De Bromhead pair, Notebook and Put The Kettle On, at odds of 4-7.
“He showed a great spring in his jumping and really attacked his fences. He flew around the final bend and was then idling. His ears were pricked and I’d say he’d plenty in reserve.
“It was frustrating what happened to him at Cheltenham but these things happen with horses every day,” said Mullins who will point Chacun Pour Soi next at the Dublin Racing Festival in February.
Appreciate It's victory in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle meant Mullins has won all four top-flight races run in Ireland so far this Christmas.
Appreciate It is now 3-1 favourite for the Supreme at Cheltenham, a race the trainer has won a record six times.
“He surprised me and impressed me. I was wondering if he was a two-and-a-half mile horse or a two mile horse. I know he can easily do it over two-and-a-half but to come back to two miles and put in a performance like that in a Grade 1 was impressive.
“I’d say we will go down the two-mile route now. He’s no flashy like Ferny Hollow but has a great cruising speed and covers a lot of ground which helps him to burn other horses off,” Mullins said.
The jump game’s fluctuating fortunes were grimly underlined in the bumper, however.
The champion trainer’s odds-on favourite Reality Cheque was going clear inside the final furlong only to be dramatically pulled up due to shattering a shin bone.
The horse was put down in front of the deserted stands and the race ultimately went to Ballycairn, trained by Mullins's great rival, Gordon Elliott.
There was room on Sunday for less high-profile figures to make a mark and none more so than Ellmarie Holden whose new recruit French Aseel made an eye-catching winning debut.
The three-year-old had never run further than a mile in nine starts in France. However he is as low as 10-1 for the Triumph Hurdle after leisurely winning his Irish debut to the tune of 22 lengths.
French Aseel, who races in the colours of the trainer’s father, cost €62,000 during the summer and may emerge as a serious Triumph threat to Saturday’s impressive winner Zanahiyr.
Master McShee had the thankless task of chasing home Appreciate It at Cork last month, form that made him look dangerous in Sunday's handicap hurdle.
So it proved for Waterford trainer Paddy Corkery, as the 5-1 winner scored under jockey Ian Power.
“It’s brilliant to be able to bring a horse here with a chance and to win is unreal,” Corkery said of the horse owned by his wife Deirdre.
“He’s not for sale. I’ll probably never again have a horse like him and I’m delighted to hold onto him. He got a cut on his leg as foal and had a lot of problems. I like hardship and bought him but didn’t pay a fortune,” he added.
Henry De Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore have a major assignment on Monday when Minella Indo’s Gold Cup claims are at stake in the Savills Chase.
They warmed up with a winner in Sunday's Beginners Chase through January Jets.
