A race which had a very interesting roll call, Beef Or Salmon having won this twice recently, and the legend that is Central House having taken it in 2004. Let Yourself Go took the eight-runner field along at a decent rate, so the pace was clearly very strong and to be fast by 0.60 seconds was a fantastic achievement of ground this soft and gives a great look to the form, given the times for other races during the day.
GOLDEN SILVER became the second dual winner of this race and completed a fantastic treble for Willie Mullins and jockey Paul Townend, underlining the strength in depth that their yard can lay claim to.
Held up off a strong pace, he eased gradually into the race, still in fifth after jumping two out, but he was never in any real danger and scooted clear after jumping the last to come home on the bridle. It was an impressive win, and while the numbers meant he deserved his cutting to 12-1 (from 16) by Paddy Power for the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March, he only had one serious rival.
Indeed, it was quite an effort to give 8lbs to Zaarito and beat him that easily, given that he should arguably have won at least 2 Grade 1 events but for sloppy jumping; This sets up a rematch with Big Zeb in the Dial – A Bet Chase oat Christmas, and that may be closer than many expect, if he was to literally repeat this effort; That said, I can’t see him winning the Champion Chase yet.
Zaarito had always shown great promise and would likely have fulfilled that had it not been for some shocking jumping at times, notably when coming down in the P.J Morartiy Chase at Leopardstown. He showed impressive cruising speed and jumped soundly but won’t be making any headway in the 2 mile division based on this; Where he goes is a hard question to answer.
The effort of Kempesmust have delighted Willie Mullins; He took time to fulfil his potential but was impressive when landing the 3m Novice Chase at the Punchestown festival (form boosted since by runner up) and should prove much better for a trip; Don’t leave him out of calculations for races like the Lexus, Irish Hennessy and even back end of season events if they cut up; He should land a couple of easier tasks too.
Let Yourself Go took the field along at a really good clip and ran a huge race, so is given an honourable mention for taking the field at a pace good enough to go under standard (4m11.40s) and he would proabaly have finished fourth had he not fallen; He might suffer for this next time though.
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