Mesnil strikes Leopardstown gold for in-form Mullins

PA Sport Reporters
December 28, 2020 1:57 pm

Trainer and jockey Paul Townend fired in another winner.

Willie Mullins’ domination of the Leopardstown Christmas meeting continued as Gaillard Du Mesnil registered a first win on Irish soil at the second attempt in the Tote.ie Maiden Hurdle.

Beaten by Henry de Bromhead’s Holymacapony on his Irish debut, the French import looked in a different league on this occasion.

In what appeared a strong contest, the 11-8 favourite was on a tight rein throughout for Paul Townend and bounded almost 10 lengths clear of Mr Incredible.

He was cut to 16-1 from 40s for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle by Betfair.

Exciting prospect – Gaillard Du Mesnil saunters to success and looks another nice one for Willie Mullins and @PTownend at @LeopardstownRC #LRCChristmas pic.twitter.com/JpFEu4D6lo
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 28, 2020

“I was very impressed with him. The jump he put in at the second last showed how much he had in the tank,” said Mullins.

“He looks like a nice middle-distance horse and we’ll probably stay at that sort of trip with him.

“As he gets more racing I think he’ll settle better, he was a little keen with Paul. He wasn’t stopping at the end and was finishing out the race well.

“He’s a horse that will go up in grade easily enough, I think.

“I suppose we’ll look at the Dublin Racing Festival. It depends what we do with Appreciate It, as we’ll probably try to keep them apart.”

Mullins and Townend then won the Pertemps Qualifier with 16-1 shot Dandy Mag.

Dandy Mag (9) comes to join The Bosses Oscar at the last (Niall Carson/PA)

Townend had plenty to do turning into the straight with at least 10 still in front of him, but Dandy Mag picked up in fine style to see off The Bosses Oscar to win by a length.

“It was a fantastic ride by Paul, who timed it perfectly,” said Mullins.

“He was off for a long time before his run at Naas. The ease in the ground and trip were a huge help to him today.

“I’m hoping that gives him his ticket now to run in the final. We haven’t had many runners in it and hopefully he goes there with a reasonable chance.”