Dancing City obliges at first time of asking over fences

Triple Grade One-winning novice hurdler Dancing City made a satisfactory start to life over fences at Punchestown on Tuesday.

Willie Mullins’ seven-year-old always looked more of a chaser in the making yet he exceeded expectations over hurdles, winning Grade Ones at Leopardstown, Aintree and Punchestown.

His only defeat at that level came at Cheltenham when he finished third in the Albert Bartlett behind Stellar Story and The Jukebox Man.

Sent off the 2-5 favourite for the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners Chase, it shaped as an informative affair given Henry de Bromhead’s Mossy Fen Park and Gordon Elliott’s Shannon Royale had already shown decent form over the bigger obstacles.

However, the bigger threat may have come from his stablemate Olympic Man who still seemed to be travelling as well as anything when he made a real mess of the fourth-last, needing Danny Mullins to perform miracles to maintain the partnership.

That cost him any chance, and while Shannon Royale did close to within a length and a half of Dancing City after the last he never looked like catching Paul Townend on the winner.

Coral left him unchanged at 10-1 for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, although Paddy Power were more impressed and cut him to 6-1 from 10s.

“That was nice, he jumped brilliant in the main and then took in the scenery down the straight!” said Townend.

“I gave him a slap going to the last to make him concentrate and he jumped it well. Then we heard another one coming he pulled out plenty again.

“It’s as good a start as you could hope for. He’s very good, he has been good since he started and we were hoping for that.

“I was happy enough to take a lead, but I didn’t break stride and let him roll along.

“I think he’ll come on for the run, all of ours are, especially over that trip (three miles), he took his blow, had a look and went on again so very happy.”