English/Ire
Kargese leads home Arkle one-two for Willie Mullins
Kargese got the better of her better-fancied stablemate Kopek Des Bordes to lead home a one-two for trainer Willie Mullins in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase.
In a contest billed as a match-race between her stablemate Kopek Des Bordes and Lulamba, Kargese, who was sent off a 7/1 chance in the hands of Danny Mullins, ran out a comfortable all-the-way winner.
It looked as though both Kopek Des Bordes and Lulamba would come to the fore as the field swung for home, but the latter made a mistake at the penultimate fence and after the former – who had briefly hit the front approaching the last - made a similar error at the final flight, it was left to Kargese to gallop on strongly and land the prize by two and a quarter lengths.
A winner at the Cheltenham Festival twelve months ago when landing the County Hurdle, Kargese, who carries the same colours as Cheltenham heroine Honeysuckle, became just the second mare to claim the prestigious two-mile novice chase since 1980, with Henry De Bromhead's Put The Kettle on the only other to achieve the feat.
Kargese was also returning to winning ways over fences having claimed a beginners' chase in fine style at Leopardstown over Christmas before suffering a narrow defeat to Gordon Elliott's Romeo Coolio in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival.
Mullins said: "Kargese jumped superbly and had far more experience than Kopek which has stood to her at the finish.
"It's a nice feeling watching two of your own fight out the finish and you think of Annie Power but surely two of them wouldn't fall at the last, at least one of them would get over you hope.
"We all need Cheltenham winners and it's great for Danny and it's fabulous to get off the mark for the week. I thought Danny gave her a tremendous ride and he used all the attributes that she has – when he wanted a jump at the last, he got it.
"We were happy Lulamba was up with Kargese and my worry was that Kopek might get in front with Kargese and the two of them might run the powder out of each other.
"She's tough and she gives herself a hard race, even over hurdles as a juvenile and everything since. We couldn't believe how well she finished off her season as a juvenile. She's a really tough nut.
"She looks like a Champion Chase horse, but we'll have to decide."
Mullins was also delighted with the effort of the runner-up and felt that it might have been a different story but for a costly mistake at the final fence.
"I thought Kopek ran brilliant and I thought Paul (Townend) gave him a fantastic ride in the circumstances. If it wasn't for the mistake at the last, I think he would have won without coming off the bridle," said Mullins.
"For a horse having only a second run over fences in a race like the Arkle and just for that mistake at the last it could have gone his way. To do what he did there today was tremendous, I haven't lost any faith in him at all.
"We'll be looking at Aintree. We'll be looking at Punchestown, there's plenty of options for him."
Nicky Henderson will also look towards the spring meetings with his high-class chaser Lulamba, who despite finishing back in third, lost little in defeat.
He said: "If there had been a two-and-a-half-mile race we'd have run in it, definitely.
"We were in top gear when he hit the second last, that's the trouble. He's run on well and we might try to go to Aintree over two and a half I'd say, he'll enjoy that.
"I don't think you'll see him over two miles again and he is that (King George) sort of horse – he's going down the Jango Baie route isn't he really?"
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