Acapella leads home Mullins clean sweep in Suir Valley A big leap at the last settled matters for Acapella Bourgeois as he produced a fine front-running performance in the Suir Valley Chase at Clonmel today. The chestnut gelding went to post a 7/4 shot for the extended two-mile-three contest with his trainer Willie Mullins saddling half of the six-runner field. Paul Townend bounced out in front on his mount and he was tackled by stable-mate Yorkhill (11/8f) turning for home. Acapella Bourgeois had a length advantage over the second last and went on at the final fence as a better jump gave him the edge over Yorkhill. The nine-year-old surged clear on the run-in to record an eight-and-a-half length success, his first win since joining Mullins. Polidam completed a clean sweep for the yard, finishing 14 lengths back in third. "He enjoyed himself and he was jumping out of his skin. We'll look for a similar contest where he can get a chance to enjoy himself,” said Mullins. "The Imperial Call Chase at Cork could be a plan next - I'd like to keep things easy and I'd probably skip a hot handicap like the Galway Plate in favour of easier races. "Yorkhill promised to run a race and Ruby thought he'd go and win around the second last but he needed it. “I'm delighted I ran him because at least we got that far in him. He jumped fairly straight and it was only when he got tired that he came out and he took a huge blow after it. "Polidam ran a better race than he has for a while and he could go for the Topham." (Quotes by Tom Weekes)
