Master Minded scrambles home as Punchestown Festival begins

It may have been the bracing spring sunshine or the teatime start that kept Punchestown's first-day crowd healthy in a cash crisis but those who came just to admire a lap of honour from Master Minded got more excitement than expected. The dual two-mile champion had only a head to spare over Big Zeb in the Kerrygold Champion Chase and would have been beaten if his rival had not fluffed the last fence.
Paul Nicholls, his trainer, had been convinced Master Minded was in better shape than when defending his title at Cheltenham last month but his nerves were shredded in a fraught climax. Nicholls felt Master Minded idled after being obliged to make his own running but Ruby Walsh, his jockey, was less forgiving.
“He didn't travel with the gusto or jump with the exuberance he usually has,” Walsh confessed. “He just wasn't taking me there out in front and he was pulling up again before the line. This wasn't his best effort but he's still won and he's an incredible horse.”
Nicholls, admitting it was “a gamble” to bring Master Minded here after ten months on the go, believes the personality of the horse has altered. “Just like Kauto Star, you learn about these horses all the time and I think he's got a bit complacent. You'll see him next in the Tingle Creek in December and I'd expect him to have a pacemaker.”
Bookmakers eased Master Minded slightly for a third Champion Chase but took the shears to the price of Big Zeb, running his best race yet for Colm Murphy. “It's a pity to get so close and not win but he's on the upgrade and something to look forward to,” Murphy said.
Nicholls had earlier watched with mixed emotions as Walsh initiated a grade one double by dismissing significant rivals to establish Hurricane Fly as new favourite for the 2010 Champion Hurdle. Admiring though he was of horse and rider, Nicholls now knows he may have to seek another jockey if Celestial Halo makes it back to Cheltenham next year.
There may, of course, be considerable caveats about Hurricane Fly getting there - his missed the Festival last month with minor injury and, being by Montjeu, he has hotheaded tendencies. His talent, though, is beyond question and the speed with which he put a false-run race to bed yesterday was breathtaking.
It came as no surprise to Willie Mullins, his trainer, who recounted a home gallop last Tuesday “which amazed us all”. Characteristically, Walsh anchored him towards the rear and looked to have a problem as he turned into the straight behind a wall of horses. He attracted the attention of the stewards by nudging a path through but his mount then sprinted seven lengths clear of Kempes and Riverside Theatre.
The latter, watched by a nattily clad Jimmy Nesbitt, his part-owner, was part of a decimated travelling party for Nicky Henderson, who yesterday scratched Punchestowns from the Ladbroke World Series Hurdle tomorrow after he was slightly lame behind. “It's nothing serious but we can't risk him,” Henderson said.
He had already taken Barbers Shop, owned by the Queen, out of today's feature race, the Guinness Gold Cup. Notre Pere, Ireland's leading chaser on ratings, is likely to contest favouritism with Imperial Commander, who won the Ryanair Chase for Nigel Twiston-Davies.
Cooldine, a Cheltenham winner for Mullins, is also among the 13 declared but he will not turn out again after disappointing yesterday in the Boylesports Champion Novice Chase. Walsh led from the start again but Cooldine jumped without fluency and dropped out tamely in the straight as Rare Bob, fourth in the Irish National, produced the surprise of the day.
More than 16,000 turned up, with an increase in general admission compensating for the predictable corporate decline. The jury is out on the late start and evening finish but the benefits may have been as much to local landlords as local workrate.
Source:The times