Not for the first time the hype machine spluttered at Punchestown on Tuesday when Colreevy make a mockery of presumptive expectations about any head-to-head between Monkfish and Envoi Allen.
Instead the mare, who was covered by the stallion Walk In The Park last week, ended her racing career with a superb Grade One success in the Dooley Group Novice Chase.
Rated superior to her two big male rivals once the sex allowance was taken into account, hard official statistics were vindicated as both Monkfish and Envoi Allen failed to fire on the first day of the final week of the National Hunt season.
Beaten before four out, Envoi Allen was pulled up before the second last. The odds-on Monkfish never could get to grips with his stable companion who made all to eventually win by eight lengths at 7-1.
It was the third leg of a Grade One hat-trick for Willie Mullins on an opening day of the festival that yielded the champion trainer a spectacular five consecutive winners in all.
Chacun Pour Soi put the disappointment of his Cheltenham flop behind him by routing the William Hill Champion Chase opposition in style while Echoes In Rain justified odds-on in the Ecomm Champion Novice Hurdle.
Other wins for the newcomer – Adamantly Chosen in the Goffs Bumper and Jazzaway in a handicap hurdle – tees up Mullins for a potentially superb week that could see him approach his record 18-winner haul at the 2018 festival.
“The ball has bounced nicely for us,” he said with masterly understatement as once again the Mullins team look set to finish the season with a flourish.
That includes his nephew, Danny Mullins, whose expertise from the front was highlighted once again on Colreevy.
“With her mares’ allowance I knew I wasn’t going to be far out of it. Even when I came out of the home bend I thought I had petrol up my sleeve but I thought those two were going to be coming up behind me,” the jockey said.
That they weren’t suggests widespread public guilt of that old sin of premature adulation.
Monkfish’s odds for next year’s Gold Cup doubled to 8-1 but the Envoi Allen bubble looks truly burst after adding a ‘P’ to the ‘F’ he picked up at Cheltenham.
Envoi Allen was reported to be lame afterwards and Rachael Blackmore reported the horse hung badly left throughout.
That horses can bounce back was proved by Chacun Pour Soi making a mockery of his lacklustre effort at Cheltenham.
Paul Townend extended his lead over Blackmore in the jockey’s championship to five (96-91) by grabbing the initiative from the start on Chacun Pour Soi, who proved much too good for his stable companion Allaho.
“That was the proper Chacun Pour Soi. I was so disappointed for the horse and everyone in Cheltenham when he got beaten because I think the world of him,” said Townend on his first day back since injuring his foot on Easter Sunday.
The rush to get back was reflected in a limp that must have felt a lot less painful after such a performance.
“An exhibition of jumping and racing,” was Mullins’s verdict on Chacun Pour Soi, who is 6-1 second favourite behind Shishkin to gain Champion Chase revenge next year.
“I don’t know why he did what he did at Cheltenham. Maybe we weren’t positive enough on him, but it’s good to see that he’s back to himself,” he added.
Townend’s sister, Jody, did the honours on the €24,000 purchase Adamantly Chosen who scooped the big pot in the €100,000 bumper.
Patrick Mullins got it wrong by picking the seventh, Hemlock, but edged one clear of Jamie Codd (46-45) in the race for the amateur rider’s crown by scoring on Echoes In Rain.
The 8-13 favourite was too strong for her stable companion Blue Lord and comfortably held the 40-1 outsider Colonel Mustard.
“That’s a great start to the week. It’s going to be nip and tuck all week to be sure,” Patrick Mullins said. “The team here at Punchestown deserve huge credit. The weather has been so dry, this is perfect racing ground.”
Mullins was on Hara Kiri who started favourite for the final bumper but came up over two lengths short of the 11-2 winner Crowns Major.
It was a day to remember too for Co Wicklow trainer Philip Rothwell who saddled a double.
Cousin Harry sprang a 25-1 surprise in the opening novice hurdle while Singing Banjo struck at 14-1 in the opening race of the week over the banks.
