Mullins makes most of Townend absence with ‘Royal’ success

Jockey Paul Townend on Royal Rendezvous. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Michael Verney

October 04 2021 02:30 AM

The absence of reigning Champion Chase heroine Put The Kettle On robbed Gowran Park of their star attraction on Saturday, but that mattered little to Danny Mullins as Royal Rendezvous (10/11 favourite) provided him with a welcome winner after a decent stint on the sidelines.

The Grade Two PWC Champion Chase had been billed as Put The Kettle On's season opener, but Henry de Bromhead didn't take any chances with the two-mile champion chaser due to unsuitable ground and Mullins benefitted after getting the better of a thrilling finale.

With Paul Townend sidelined by a dislocated shoulder picked up at Listowel last month, Mullins made the most of the opportunity to partner the nine-year-old for his uncle Willie and he showed his steel once again to see off Gordon Elliott's Hardline Hardline (22/1) by half a length in an exciting finish.

"I fractured a couple of vertebrae in Limerick, that's racing. As a jump jockey, you're a fool if you don't think it's going to happen to you at some stage," the winning rider said.

"Rachael Blackmore was kind enough to drive my car home from Limerick the day I got the fall. I was lying in hospital watching her and she probably had to ask someone to drive her car home from Killarney three days later, that's the game.

"You accept it, you get fit again and you come back at it again. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. He’s a good tough horse and I’ve been lucky enough to win on him a couple of times before. I was always happy that he was going to get there. He has his own way of jumping but he jumps forward and fast which is what you need in a racehorse, it’s not a showjumping contest.”

The Clonmel Oil Chase could be next on the agenda for this year's Galway Plate winner while Put The Kettle On is likely to head back to her beloved Cheltenham next month as the seven-year-old chases her fifth victory at the Cotswolds.

“The ground was a bit better than ideal for her and we thought it was the safer thing to do," De Bromhead said of the mare. “It’s the owners’ local track and they always wanted to run her here. She will probably go back again (to Cheltenham) for the Shloer Chase in November.”

Meanwhile, Conor O'Dwyer looks to have a nice dual-purpose prospect for the future with Virtual Hug (15/2) scoring at the third time of asking over timber in the three-year-old maiden hurdle.

Ricky Doyle was always prominent on the son of Buratino with his trainer planning on giving him a break with a summer campaign over hurdles in mind.