| Course: PUNCHESTOWN | Race date:23/04/08 | Race time:4:15 | Runners:9 |
| Race distance:3m1f | Going:Good To Yielding | Winners time:6m 9.10s |
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Stall | Weight | Age | RPR | OR | Odds | B High | B Ave | B Low | In run | Finished | Dist Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neptune Collonges | R Walsh | P F Nicholls | 11-10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 9/10F | NA | NA | NA | NA | 1 | ||
| Snowy Morning | D J Casey | W P Mullins | 11-10 | 8 | 0 | 154 | 12/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 2 | 7 | |
| Mossbank | D N Russell | Michael Hourigan | 11-10 | 8 | 0 | 166 | 7/2 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 3 | 17 | |
| Mister Top Notch | P Carberry | D E Fitzgerald | 11-10 | 9 | 0 | 154 | 11/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 4 | 1 | |
| New Alco | N P Madden | Ferdy Murphy | 11-10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 5 | 5 | |
| Beef Or Salmon | Timmy Murphy | Michael Hourigan | 11-10 | 12 | 0 | 159 | 33/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 6 | 3 | |
| Hi Cloy | T J Doyle | Michael Hourigan | 11-10 | 11 | 0 | 154 | 50/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | 7 | dist | |
| Sher Beau | Andrew J McNamara | Philip Fenton | 11-10 | 9 | 0 | 142 | 50/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | PU | ||
| Kicking King | B J Geraghty | T J Taaffe | 11-10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8/1 | NA | NA | NA | NA | PU |
Neptune Collonges led, headed after 6th, led again before 6 out, clear 3 out, ridden and kept on well from 2 out
Snowy Morning chased leaders, ridden in 4th 3 out, improved to 2nd entering straight, kept on from before 2 out, not reach winner
Mossbank mid-division, headway to 5th 5 out, ridden in 3rd 3 out, soon no extra, kept on one pace, mistake last
Mister Top Notch chased leaders, mistakes 7th and 9th, 2nd approaching 5 out, ridden 3 out, weakened before straight
New Alco held up, some headway to moderate 5th after 4 out, no impression on leaders
Beef Or Salmon chased leaders, slight mistake 4th, lost place before 9th, no impression in 8th from before 6 out, kept on one pace
Hi Cloy chased leaders, improved to 2nd 3rd, led after 6th, headed before 6 out, weakened approaching 5 out
Sher Beau always towards rear, mistake 6th, pulled up after 3 out
Kicking King mid-division, headway to 5th at 9th, improved to 2nd after 5 out, soon no extra approaching next and weakened, pulled up before 3 out
It was NEPTUNE COLLONGES who won the day, and he did so in wonderful fashion, putting up a performance every bit as exhilarating as he had 12 months earlier. In front in both the first and final thirds of the contest, he was clumsy at the ninth fence and very slightly so at the following obstacle, but apart from those blemishes, he attacked his fences with relish. Once Ruby Walsh began to pile on the pressure on the approach to the fourth last fence, the race was effectively his to lose, and for not one moment did he look like losing it. It remains a quite extraordinary fact that Neptune Collonges is only the third best staying chaser in his yard, as on official figures he is one of the best staying chasers to have raced in recent seasons. The mark he posted when a running on third in the Gold Cup was superior to that given to very many Gold Cup winners, and that reflects the enormous improvement the French-bred has found this term. Only seven, he is around a stone better this season than he was last season, and given that he will still be a young horse when he starts out next winter, there is every chance that he will get even better.
Snowy Morning faced a stiff task here, given that he is rated 24lb inferiorto Neptune Collonges. On top of that, he was running just 18 days after his mighty Aintree effort, but he produced arguably his best run of the season to take second, 17 lengths in front of the third. The omens were good beforehand, as he looked in rude health in the paddock, and he ran as well as he looked after holding a prominent position throughout. This run is bound to trigger an increase in his handicap mark, which will make his task in next year's Grand National that much harder, but that may not matter, as he will be good enough to win some hot conditions events.
Mister Top Notch has had an excellent campaign and he was far from disgraced here.
The latter comment also applies to New Alco, who really has no pretensions to winning Grade 1 races but came here due to limited opportunities. He is at his best when very fresh, so connections will surely look to bring him back in a valuable heat on his return next term.
Beef Or Salmon is clearly not the force of old but he entered retirement with an honourable display.
One place back was stablemate Hi Cloy, who seems to be regressing.
Sher Beau and Kicking King were both pulled up, but while that might have been expected of the first-named, better was hoped for from the 2005 Gold Cup second. He bounced on his second run back from injury, but the early signs here were that he was in the process of recapturing former glories. However, after travelling keenly under Barry Geraghty, he weakened quickly on the run to the fourth last fence, looking very much as ifsomething was amiss. That might well have been the case, as Tom Taaffe subsequently revealed that the horse had given a dirty scope.[LM]
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