Any wavering karma believers need only look to
Graham Wylie
to have their faith restored after the top English owner enjoyed a sparkling Grade One double at Punchestown yesterday with Boston Bob and Shaneshill.
Wylie endured the agony of missing out on last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup with On His Own’s short-head defeat and got widely praised for his sportsmanship in not appealing the controversial decision by the stewards there to leave the places unaltered.
On His Own lined up again for yesterday's Bibby Financial Punchestown Gold Cup and although he finished last, and lame, Wylie's other hope Boston Bob vindicated Ruby Walsh's decision to ride him despite almost conspiring to throw it all away with a jink after the last fence that had the jockey hanging on for dear life.
“If you’re lucky you hang on; if not you fall on your arse!” was Walsh’s summation of a dramatic twist to his fifth win in the big race which came only four days after his return from a dislocated shoulder and a fractured arm sustained just six weeks ago at Cheltenham.
Shaneshill was runner-up for Walsh in the Bumper at Cheltenham but he comprehensively reversed the form with Silver Concorde in the Attheraces Champion Bumper yesterday under rider Jamie Codd to complete Wylie's top-flight double alongside trainer Willie Mullins.
"I thought the way Graham and Andrea (Wylie) accepted defeat at Cheltenham was very admirable," Walsh considered afterwards. "I thought it was incredible."
Ultimate reward
Wylie himself typically played things down but bookmakers are offering odds of 14/1 about Boston Bob providing the ultimate reward for sportsmanship in next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup. Not surprisingly, Mullins confirmed the blue-riband, and his own pursuit of an elusive first win in the race, will be the long-term target with the enigmatic star.
“He’s starting to show now what he shows me at home and I would say we will go the Gold Cup route with him, maybe starting back here in the John Durkan,” said Mullins who had firmly pointed Walsh towards Boston Bob instead of On His Own who never looked happy yesterday.
“With the shorter trip and the better ground I thought Boston Bob’s bit of class would come into play. The other horse is a stayer,” he said before outlining a possible route to the French Gold Cup at Auteuil in June for On His Own. “He didn’t enjoy being on his own in front and started jumping too deliberately.”
Mullins’s top amateur riders, including his son Patrick, will be kicking themselves still today after deliberately ignoring Shaneshill’s claims in the Champion Bumper. The trainer revealed Shaneshill was the fourth pick of his four runners after some disappointing recent pieces of work and turned to an old ally in Jamie Codd for the Cheltenham runner-up.
Codd took the initiative early and after taking the string out of Silver Concorde’s speed the top point-to-point rider was rewarded with a first Grade One on the track. He later got a two-day suspension for his use of the whip.
“I worked for Willie for five great years when I was starting out and it was great to get the call from him. Point-to-points are the bread and butter but these big days are brilliant,” said the jockey whose great rival Derek O’Connor won the other bumper on the English-trained Fletchers Flyer.
Mullins was denied a Grade One hat-trick by Barry Geraghty who powered English favourite Beat That to a defeat of the Walsh-ridden Don Poli in the novice hurdle.
