Gaelic Warrior untroubled in winning by a wide margin© Photo Healy Racing
According to racecourse commentator Jerry Hannon "it's nothing but a Saturday stroll" for Gaelic Warrior in the beginners' chase at Punchestown and that was a more than apt description of proceedings.
The former Grade 1 winning hurdler was making his chasing bow in what was certainly an above average contest, but he demolished his 10 rivals.
The 4/11 favourite had the race won a long way out barring a fall. He turned for home to face the final two fences with a yawning chasm back to the remainder and sauntered home under Paul Townend by 15 lengths from Inothewayurthinkin (4/1) who finished in front of Senioe Chief (9/1).
The winner's jumping improved as the race developed and, afterwards, Paddy Power shortened him from 6/1f to 4/1f for the Brown Advisory and 7/1 from 10s for the Turners.
Willie Mullins said: “It was a very good performance, way better than I expected. I thought he was a bit novicey at one or two, but never looked like falling and he ran very fresh today.
“We all know he stays and he might go a longer trip but maybe after that performance I need to have a rethink about him. He’d have no problem going two and a half miles and two miles would be no problem to him either the way he ran there.
“We thought there would be a lot more pace in the race, but it seemed to evaporate and Paul was happy enough to make it.
“He was just a bit gassy today on his first run and maybe he will settle later on in the season.”
This brought up a double for Mullins and Townend who took the preceding race through Predators Gold
Additional reporting by Alan Magee
