Planet Of Sound resonates at Punchestown
The jumps season may be drawing to a close but Philip Hobbs bore the expression of a man who wishes the party would go on.
These have been lean times for Hobbs, who will be missing out on a domestic century for only the second time in 11 seasons when the current campaign ends on Saturday, but there have been some recent signs of light at the end of what has seemed a long and dark tunnel.
A couple of high-profile winners at the Cheltenham Festival were a potent reminder that Hobbs is not a trainer to dismiss lightly but Planet Of Sound was still one of the forgotten horses in the line-up for the Grade One Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup, the highlight of the second day of the Festival. However, there were reasons for him being overlooked.
A crunching fall at Ascot in February and a lacklustre run in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham the following month did not augur well, but a tongue tie dealt with the breathing issue and Planet Of Sound was near foot-perfect in his jumping for Richard Johnson, which is more than could be said for Denman.
After the debacle of Twist Magic the day before, when he refused to race, Paul Nicholls walked the track and consulted with injured stable jockey Ruby Walsh before deciding whether to run Denman. Having concluded that the ground was soft enough, Denman ran but was in trouble from the first fence. Tony McCoy never looked happy on the favourite, who jumped left, often markedly and looked a shadow of the horse who won the Hennessy Gold Cup last November and ran second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
He clearly was not happy and there were moments when McCoy seemed to be hanging on grimly to keep him on the track but, implausibly, Denman was still in contention with four fences to jump. Planet Of Sound led through the home turn and the run to the last as he pulled three-and-a-half lengths clear of War Of Attrition – his best performance since his Gold Cup-winning days on his last run before retirement – with Cooldine third and Denman fourth.
“I’m chuffed to bits,” said Hobbs of the winner. “He’s always been a very nice horse. It was his first start over three miles but he stayed on very well today. He made one mistake down the far side, but apart from that jumped very well.
“He’s always looked very good, but at Cheltenham he choked and so we put a tongue tie on him today. He gurgled that day but has never done it before or since, at home or on the track. He was very flat after that race as well, which is unlike him, he’s a very genuine horse. He has been a forgotten horse and when I saw 25-1 in today’s paper I couldn’t believe it.
“We knew he’d get the trip and he stayed on well. We can dream all summer now. He has plenty of pace go the King George would probably be the aim before Christmas and we can dream on after that. He could start off in something like the Betfair Chase at Haydock.”
Nicholls, a man who seems to be racking up days to forget this week, said: “Ruby and I spoke at length beforehand and we both thought he’d be OK today and he ran some race given the ground he gave away.
“He’ll stick to left-handed tracks from now on. After he jumped the third I said that he was in trouble then because he was not going to win when he jumped like that.”
For a man who had spent most of the week wondering when he would get his planes back in the air, Michael O’Leary was in flying form. The Ryanair boss is also owner of War Of Attrition and rarely has a man seemed so happy in defeat. “Apart from the birth of my children, this horse has given me the best days of my life,” O’Leary said. “Winning the Gold Cup was probably the greatest day but was closely followed by his success at Punchestown three weeks later. As long I own racehorses we’ll never repeat it.
“There’s no way he’ll run again and the plan is take him home in another week or two. He’ll go hunting in the winter and keep active.”
Dermot Weld believes that Hidden Universe could make into an outstanding Flat and jumping prospect after running away with the Grade One Paddy Power Champion INH Flat Race under Robbie McNamara. “Tactics still work,” Weld said. “Back in my days riding here it was always a big help to have the rail and things haven’t changed. The plan was for Robbie to dictate things from the front and I thought he was the winner from a long way out.
“He’ll have the summer off but is going to make into an outstanding dual purpose horse early next year. He’s going to be a really useful hurdler and exceptional Flat horse.”
It looks as though this could be another exceptional week for Willie Mullins. The Irish champion trainer saddled 12 winners at the meeting last year and followed up his treble on the first day with a double on the second.
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