Hurricane Fly lands a massive victory for Mullins in the Rabobank Champion Hurdle
The W.P Mullins trained Hurricane Fly, Zaidpour and Thousand Stars competed in the Grade 1 Rabobank Champion Hurdle, but it was Hurricane Fly, who showed why he is still Mullins’ number one at Punchestown on 27th April, 2012.
The son of Montjeu, out of Scandisk, added another victory to his already impressive record, as he raced as a favourite under renowned jockey, Ruby Walsh.
The duo’s strategy in the race was to stay at the back of the pack, and increase the speed only when it was needed most.
With this tactic, Hurricane Fly, who entered the race as a favourite gained the advantage and took the lead towards the end and successfully landed the victory over Zaidpour by 2 ½ lengths.
Thousand Stars, who was mounted by jockey, Ms K. Walsh, finished third, as he fell six lengths behind the runner-up.
The fourth and last place was secured by the E. J O'Grady trained, The Real Article.
Hurricane Fly delivered an impressive race at the Cheltenham Festival prior to this race, where he stood third in the Grade 1 Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival on 13th March, 2012.
He missed the glorious victory by 5 ½ lengths to the Paul Nicholls trained runner, Rock On Ruby.
Mullins was incredibly pleased with the performance of Hurricane Fly as he stated that:
"I was worried passing the winning post on the first circuit as he was not enjoying the sticky ground.
"He'd had a hard race at Cheltenham last time but it's great now that he will have his confidence back with the win today."
As a result of this victory, Paddy Power has declared the eight-year-old bay gelding as the 11 to 2 favourite for the 2013 Stan James Champion Hurdle.
Referring to the performance of Thousand Stars and Zaidpour, Mullins stated that: "Zaidpour ran a cracker; they both put up really good performances.”
Zaidpour, son of Red Ransom, out of Zainta, delivered a much better performance compared to his eighth place finish in the Grade 1 Stan James Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival.
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