Grangeclare West and Paul Townend© Photo Healy Racing
Lightly-raced Grangeclare West (7/4) found his true vocation at Naas today, scoring on chase debut in the Mongey Communications Beginners Chase, beating dramatic Cheltenham-casualty Corbetts Cross (11/10f) into third.
Low sun resulted in both fences in the home straight — scheduled to be jumped twice, being omitted but had little impact as Willie Mullins' all-the-way winner Grangeclare West had jumped with aplomb and won readily from Heart Wood
J.P. McManus' Corbetts Cross was reappearing - having run out at the last in March's Albert Bartlett Hurdle, but in contrast to the winner his jumping was, in racing parlance, 'skew-whiff' at early fences but ran on for a never-dangerous third.
Grangeclare West's Cheveley Park Stud owners and jockey Paul Townend suffered a reversal in the earlier chase as Sir Gerhard fell but Townend said “he (Grangeclare West) looks to be born to jump fences, he loved it.
“He had a blow but his jumping was getting him a long way. The two fences being taken out in the straight didn’t help but his class got him through. He’s always promised and I’d say with chasing he could fulfil his promise.
“He was obviously disappointing here in the Lawlors (Hurdle) but came back to Punchestown and won.”
Granceclare West - a £430,000 point-to-point purchase in December 2020, was today cut to 12/1 (from 25s) for both Cheltenham's Brown Advisory and Turners novice chases in March with Paddy Power.
Quotes from Alan Magee
