An official attendance of 14,562 returned to the Punchestown festival on Tuesday but no one was happier to be there than Gordon Elliott.
A first festival with crowds since 2019 might have got billed as a likely Willie Mullins benefit but kicked off instead with his great rival defiantly saddling a 21,293/1 four-timer.
It put Elliott only one shy of a landmark 2,000 career winners.
It is an astonishing tally in just a decade and a half since the 44 year-old first took out his licence.
But it also underlines a remarkable rejuvenation of fortunes for Elliott who a year ago spent a behind closed doors Punchestown festival on holiday in the middle of a six-month suspension.
The shadow of the notorious image that prompted his disrepute ban may take time to fade away but results such as Tuesday’s can only quicken the process.
“This time last year I was in Portugal lying on a beach but I’m a lot happier to be here!” Elliott beamed.
Such was the impact of Elliott’s results that even a Grade 1 double for Mullins through Energumene and Capodanno - as well as the eclipse of Bob Olinger in his first defeat over fences - slid down the pecking order.
The Grade 1 centrepiece of Elliott’s four-timer set the tone for the day as Mighty Potter upset the Mullins applecart with a surprise success in the Bective Stud Champion Novice Hurdle.
A race expected to be dominated by Mullins’s pair, the odds-on Sir Gerhard and Dysart Dynamo, instead fell to the 20-1 winner under an inspired Jack Kennedy.
The jockey who turned 23 last week put Sir Gerhard in a pocket coming out of the back straight and when Dysart Dynamo quickly faded at the fourth last, Kennedy was lightening quick to get in front of the 4-7 favourite again.
Ultimately it was the 100-1 outsider Gatsby Grey who got closest to Mighty Potter at the line.
“That’s when Jack Kennedy became a man. That’s how good he is. He gave him a brilliant ride, brilliant, clean race-riding,” Elliott said with the air of someone perhaps making a point about the jockey room’s pecking order.
“Jack is a world class jockey. He’s after getting a good run for the last months without injury and if we can keep him in one piece for next season he’s different class,” he added.
Kennedy was also on board Felix Desjy who beat a pair of Mullins runners in a handicap hurdle while Davy Russell did the steering on Party Central in the opening mares hurdle.
Absolute Notions, the 25-1 outsider of Elliott’s four runners, belied those odds to land the Goffs Land Rover Bumper under Declan Lavery.
A day that began in frustration wound up with a Mullins hat-trick completed by Lisnagar Fortune in the bumper.
Earlier, fears about much quicker ground than the soft he won the Champion Chase on in Cheltenham proved baseless for Energumene in the William Hill Champion Chase.
The 4-7 favourite ultimately proved much too strong for his stable companion Chacun Pour Soi in a performance that had his trainer purring.
“On this ground, to me, that was as good, if not better, than he ever did before,” Mullins said. “He’s by the same sire as Un De Sceaux and looked like he might be a similar sort. But he has a lot more speed than we gave him credit for.”
Back in January Capodanno gave best to Bob Olinger at Punchestown in a Grade 3 but got his revenge in some style in the Dooley Group Champion Novice Chase.
More forceful tactics saw Mark Walsh guide the 11-4 to an authoritative defeat of Lifetime Ambition.
“In the bigger races we hadn’t been bold enough and today was the day just to be bold and see what happens. It worked out and hopefully we might have a Gold Cup horse on our hands,” Mullins said. “He gallops and jumps and usually the Gold Cup is on good ground. That’ll do us.”
Bob Olinger started a 6-5 favourite but was beaten with five to jump and was pulled up before three out.
Rachael Blackmore’s mount was post-race normal after veterinary examination and the jockey said: “He was disappointing but we’ll have him back again.”
Complete domination by the sport’s top two trainers was prevented only by Vital Island’s half-length defeat of the Mullins favourite Good Bye Sam in the Cross-Country race.
“He loves it around here. He’s been second a few times but did the job today,” said trainer Richie O’Keeffe. “We’ll see how he is but he might run again on Thursday (La Touche Cup)
The opening day crowd was down almost 3,000 on the corresponding figure in 2019 but a Punchestown spokesperson said: “It’s not totally unexpected because a lot of our pre-sales are for later in the week.”
