Kargese win ends Mullins’ Grade One campaign on a high

Willie Mullins extended his record haul of Grade One wins in a season to 39 after Kargese came with a flying finish to claim the Ballymore Champion Four Year Old Hurdle at Punchestown.

The Closutton maestro had already struck with Lossiemouth earlier on in the day and Paul Townend produced this 9-4 favourite with a perfectly-timed run to add another to the tally.

Kargese provided one of those elite-level victories at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, before finishing second in the Triumph at Cheltenham and again at Aintree.

She had pulled too hard early on during those runner-up efforts but settled much better under a confident ride from Townend on this occasion.

It seemed as though the jockey may have been a touch too patient when Kargese still had four horses to pass approaching the final flight.

However, a swift jump at that obstacle meant she landed with more momentum than the other contenders and Kargese came home a length and a half ahead of Bottler’secret.

Mullins said: “She’s very tough. She was really hard on herself in Aintree, so that was a tremendous performance to come back and win here.

“To see where she was turning from home, Paul certainly got his fractions right there and got the jump right at the last.

“I think she deserved that after the way she ran in Aintree.”

Connections now have a decision to make with regards future plans for the Kenny Alexander-owned Kargese.

“She is big enough to jump a fence,” said Mullins. “I’d imagine she will stay over hurdles but we’ll have a word with Peter Molony (Alexander’s racing manager) to see what he thinks.”