Davy Russell put a Grade One seal on his comeback from serious injury by partnering Galvin to a dramatic success in Leopardstown's Savills Chase on Tuesday.
The Gordon Elliott trained 7-1 shot edged out the odds-on favourite A Plus Tard by a short head in a driving finish to the €175,000 feature.
It catapulted Galvin to the forefront of a wide open Cheltenham Gold Cup picture with prices as low as 5-1 about him for steeplechasing’s ‘Blue Riband’ in March.
Such a prospect will be prized by Russell who famously landed the Gold Cup in 2014 on board Lord Windermere and can boast a glittering CV that also includes two Grand Nationals on Tiger Roll.
Even in such a context, though, this latest top-flight success was loaded with significance for the 42-year-old veteran rider. After being out of action for 11 months due to dislocating and fracturing vertebrae in a bad fall, there were many who questioned the wisdom of Russell’s return to action in September.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was among those who advised the former triple-champion jockey to call time on his career and enjoy his young family.
However, single-mindedness has been a feature of Russell’s stellar career and his return has been notable for its seamlessness over the last three months.
What had been lacking was a Grade One but he put that right in style on Galvin for an old ally in Elliott, whose own 2021 has hardly been trouble-free either.
“It’s great to do it on the big stage. I’ve had a few near misses but hadn’t won a Grade One since I came back,” Russell said. “I wasn’t sure where the line was as I had my head down and my saddle slipped a little bit.”
Elliott admitted to a “tear in the eye” for someone he has been friends with since both were teenagers riding on the point-to-point circuit.
The trainer had struck at the top level the day before with Mighty Potter, a first Grade One since his own return from a six-month suspension in August.
Both were quick to target the Gold Cup with Galvin, who had just got the better of the horse that still tops the Cheltenham betting.
"The way he stays, if he can get into a rhythm anywhere at all, I wouldn't care if he was first or last going out on the last circuit he'll come home very strong in the Gold Cup," said Elliott, who won it in 2016 with Don Cossack.
‘Huge ability’
If Rachael Blackmore figured she and A Plus Tard could discount Galvin when tightening him up on the turn in she was rudely disabused of the idea as the winner's stamina kicked into overdrive. However, A Plus Tard remains a general 4-1 market leader in Gold Cup betting.
Earlier Klassical Dream went to the top of the Stayers’ Hurdle market after beating the current title-holder Flooring Porter in the Dornan Christmas Hurdle, with two lengths in hand of his rival at the line after making all.
However, Klassical Dream looked to get two or three times that margin at the beginning with a flying start that left Flooring Porter’s trainer Gavin Cromwell unhappy.
Paul Townend said the start was all down to his partner and added: "The flag dropped, he did a little fly-leap and was gone on me. You've got to play the hand you are dealt."
The hand previously given to Klassical Dream in terms of injuries has been tough but Willie Mullins has always believed in his ability.
“He is hard to train. He has huge ability but doesn’t always give you confidence when he works,” he said. “I think with the race under his belt we’d have a lot more confidence in him now.”
A stewards' inquiry was held into the start of the race where starter Joe Banahan said at the same time he dropped the flag Klassical Dream "plunged forward into stride".
Starting procedures
Flooring Porter's jockey Danny Mullins accepted evidence from Banahan and Townend and said video recordings were "self-explanatory". The stewards were happy starting procedures were adhered to.
For a third day in a row Willie Mullins saddled a Leopardstown hat-trick with a winner at Limerick thrown in for good measure.
Redemption Day was impressive in the bumper but nothing has caught the eye more all week than Galopin Des Champs’ superb debut over fences in Tuesday’s Beginners’ Chase.
The Grade One hurdler didn’t miss a beat in a 22-length rout that had his trainer purring and bookmakers making him a 9-4 favourite for Cheltenham’s Festival Chase.
“I thought he was good but I didn’t think he was that good. That was just something else,” Mullins said. “He was so effortless over all his fences. Paul [Townend] said he was fantastic early and at a few he met short he just danced in front of his fences.
“He did everything right and galloped away through the line and beyond. He looks very, very exciting for the future, especially going over a trip,” he added.
