Best Dressed Lossiemouth the Queen of Punchestown’s Ladies’ Day

They turned out in their droves for Ladies’ Day on the penultimate leg of the Punchestown Festival and the guest of honour Lossiemouth, fulfilled her role in dominant fashion, cantering to a facile victory in the Boodles Champion Hurdle.

It was a 1-2 for the fair sex, with Golden Ace replicating her runner-up finish behind State Man in last year’s renewal, with another magnificent performance.

It was the third of four second-place finishes on the day for British-trained performers, but as well as Jeremy Scott’s admirable stable star ran, it never seemed likely she would achieve anything more than the ‘best of the rest’ tag.

Whereas for Lossiemouth (2/7f), it was a case of Best Dressed Lady, completing the Cheltenham-Punchestown double last achieved by State Man in 2024, when recording the middle part of his Boodles Champion Hurdle three-in-a-row. Honeysuckle, Faugheen, Hurricane Fly, Jezki and Hardy Eustace are the other horses to complete that feat this century.

Half of that sextet have been trained by Willie Mullins - Henry de Bromhead (Honeysuckle), Jessica Harrington (Jezki) and Dessie Hughes (Hardy Eustace) being responsible for the other trio.

The Closutton leviathan will be crowned champion trainer for the 20th time tomorrow, and he enjoyed a spectacular day in front of 43,572 people packed into the peerless Kildare venue.

He wasn’t in attendance but such is the well-oiled nature of the operation, that it was business as usual – in other words, relentless, remarkable achievement.

Lossiemouth was the peak of a four-timer on the day, that also included King Rasko Grey (8/13f) cementing another Cheltenham-Punchestown double. The six-year-old just held on by a head from the rapidly finishing Faye Bramley-trained four-year-old, Lord Byron, to claim the other Grade 1 on the card, the Alanna Homes Champion Novice Hurdle.

The run had begun with Dinoblue landing the Grade 2 Hanlon Concrete Irish EBF Glencarraig Lady Francis Flood Mares’ Chase, and providing jockey Mark Walsh with a landmark 900th career winner in the saddle.

Funiculi Funicula was an impressive winner of the Listed Quinnbet Novice Handicap Chase to give Paul Townend the first of his three triumphs on the card.

Townend, like Mullins, has completed the Gold Cup/Champion Hurdle/Champion Chase treble at both Punchestown and Cheltenham in the past two months, while also fitting in the Aintree Grand National.

In all, Mullins representatives have entered the winner’s enclosure 11 times during the Punchestown Festival, a quintet of those doing so after landing Grade 1s.

Lossiemouth provided the latest of the top-flight triumphs and owner Rich Ricci was thankful to the trainer, and the Irish crowds who provided the grey mare with a thunderous ovation as she went on a lap of honour around the parade ring.

“I haven’t been here since Ruby Walsh retired in 2019, because of Covid and other things, but it’s great to be back and the people are wonderful. And Irish racing is awesome!” gushed Ricci to raucous roars.

“I get emotional. Getting into the game I never thought I’d have anything like this kind of success. Willie Mullins and his team deserve so much credit. You know, we’re just the money that buys the horses. They do all the hard work and isn’t it great here? She’s some mare. And she’s only seven! That’s the thing that keeps striking me. It’s just wonderful to be around horses like this.” Townend has been on Lossiemouth’s back for all bar one of her 14 triumphs and each of her 11 Grade 1s and the Cork rider did his best to come up with the necessary superlatives after her latest blitz.

“You’d go a long way to find one like her,” said Townend. “She’s so simple now as well, you can put her where you want . You go to the start, line her up there, and take it as the race presents itself.

“She locked on leaving the back straight and I was trying to keep it as simple as I could, which can often end up complicating it more. But you trust her, she has so much ability that you don’t want to have a hard-luck story, but she was dynamite.

“Once I grabbed hold of her, she was alive underneath me and away with her down the straight.” It was far more nervous for favourite backers with King Rasko Brey clinging on under Townend, wearing the colours of Audrey Turley who enjoyed Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup glory with Galopin Des Champs last year, as well as two Cheltenham Gold Cups.

Chasing could be in the future for this son of Galiway also.

“I would have been disgusted if I had got mugged,” said Townend. “If Harry (Cobden) had come to me earlier, I think he would have just pushed me on down the track.

“He’s a talented horse but just still physically and mentally immature. He’s still developing. He’s a big horse and he doesn’t get the credit for the size of him, I think.

“I don’t want to say fences too much because he’d end up hurdling then but I’d love to ride him over a fence.” Mullins’ assistant, David Casey, did not shoot the idea down.

“It was great,” said Casey. “I was a bit worried when they were going so slow because he stays well. It was a bit of a dash down the straight and he pulled up a bit in front, he was waiting for the horses behind him.

“He’s a good horse and I think chasing will really suit him, he’s a made chaser.” Sam Ewing only returned to action on Tuesday, after aggravating an old leg injury during the Cheltenham Festival seven weeks ago, and he didn’t waste too much time getting his head back in front, eliciting a wonderfully gritty effort from Avalo (14/1) to edge out Pioneer Pete, from the Jonjo and AJ O’Neill yard, in a nip-and-tuck battle for the FRS Fencing Handicap Hurdle.

“Seamus Perry and Brian Larkin bought into him and it’s worked out great for them,” said Peter Fahey, who trains not too far away in Monasterevin. “To come to the Punchestown Festival and get a winner is brilliant.

“Our lad has been known as a weak finisher and a bridle horse but he dug deep today.” The concluding Stables Restaurant Naas Flat Race provided Gavin Cromwell with his first winner of the week, and it was a gutsy one, as long-time leader Largy Star (9/2) battled back under Declan Lavery after being overtaken by Premier View and Harry Swan.

The margin of victory was a length and a quarter in the end, and the pair pulled 18 lengths clear of the chasing pack.

“He’s some horse to stay and the bit of nicer ground helped,” said Cromwell. “He just didn’t operate on the heavy ground in Naas, he found it tough work. “Back on nice ground today he was very tough and stayed going.”