Although his mount was pulling hard Brian O’Connell brilliantly paced Dunguib through the bumper before allowing the gelding his head on the turn for home - Dunguib won with a stunning ten lengths to spare from second-placed Some Present.
Willie Mullins had no less than eight runners in his search for a seventh Champion Bumper win, but none of them could get near the runaway winner. Indeed, Rite Of Passage was sent off the 5-2 favourite, but he had to settle for a creditable third.
Philip Fenton was quick to praise the efforts of his Limerick jockey: “He jumped absolutely brilliantly and had plenty of cover. Hopefully we might bring him back here again next year for the two-mile race. He’s something to look forward to. Brian rode him with plenty of confidence. I’m sure we’ll be doing plenty of celebrating.”
A delighted Brian O’Connell added: “He was always good at home and his last two runs have been very good. I came here thinking he had every chance and to be honest I would have been disappointed if he had been beaten.”
Brian O’Connell, the son of Gobnait and Val, will now saddle Royal Blood for Philip Dempsey in the Christies Foxhunter Steeplechase on Friday afternoon.
On the opening day of the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival Enda Bolger stole the show when he trained the first three home in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase for owner JP McManus.
The Bruree-based Enda Bolger saw Garde Champetre lead home stable mates L’Ami and Drombeag - with Nina Carberry on board Garde Champetre had also won the same race 12 months previously.
L’Ami, who had gone to post as a 7/4 favourite, led into the straight under JT McNamara, but despite concedeing 4lb to the favourite Ninan Carberry partnered Garde Champetre to the front at the last and never relented; Drombeag ran on to finish third - Heads On The Ground was the only one from the stable not to be placed.
A delighted Enda Bolger said: “It was great, we had a bit of luck with everything finishing. I’ve been saying it all along, but I think she (Nina Carberry) is probably the best rider I’ve ever seen, she’s tremendous. Without a doubt she has been the making of that horse. He’s not the biggest, we used to have old Spot The Difference here and this one would be able to walk under him. L’Ami got into a great rhythm, and got the run of the race, but the best horse on the day won. Let’s hope they are all here next year.”
JP McManus, who owns all three placed horses, was thrilled by their respective performances: “That was nice. I didn’t know which one to fancy, but thankfully for me the right one won as I had a few quid each-way - but the problem is I didn’t have enough on!
“Enda lives where I used to live and he has made these races his life.
“He gives horses like L’Ami and Garde Champetre a new lease of life, they have found another vocation.”
There was further joy for JP McManus, who celebrated his 58th birthday on Tuesday, in the William Hill Trophy when Tony McCoy delivered one of the rides of the season to boot home Wichita Lineman who won from Maljimar by a neck.
In the winner’s enclosure JP McManus was full of praise for trainer Jonjo O’Neill: “Jonjo’s trained this horse with the festival in mind, like you do with ever horse until you find out it’s not good enough. Jonjo’s done a great job with him. I thought he looked marvellous in the paddock and full marks to Jonjo and the team at Jackdaws Castle to get him back in full flow. He didn’t look to be going great. I watched the race with Jonjo and we said we may have given up - but AP didn’t. Words can’t describe AP’s dedication to the game, his will to win and the other side of him - his sympathetic nature.”
Limerick connections claimed another thriller in the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy when The Goat Racing Syndicate, led by Charlie Chawke, celebrated Forpadydeplaster winning at 8/1 under Barry Geraghty.
There were joyous scenes in the winner’s enclosure at Cheltenham after the Arkle with Tom Cooper, the horse’s trainer and part-time dental technician, hoisted shoulder-high to the crowd’s delight. Charlie Chawke pieced together the 20-strong Goat Racing Syndicate in which electricians and plumbers complement more affluent members of Irish society.
Charlie explained how the Forpadydeplasterer experience unfolded: “I’m very friendly with my customers. They asked me some years ago if there were any chance of owning a racehorse. Paddy the plasterer is a great friend of our former premier Bertie Ahern.
“I went to Tom Cooper and asked him if he would have a horse good enough to call by that name.
“He said he had two, but did not know how good they were. I said that was no good. We needed a horse that was going to win at Cheltenham.
“Two or three weeks later after scouring the country he phoned me up and said I have found you a horse.”
Brian McDonnell
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