Grade 1 double for Walsh on opening day of Dublin Racing Festival

Having fluffed his lines on more than one occasion, Majborough (2/1) finally showed up to rocket to the top of the rankings in the two-mile chase division with a convincing victory in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase.

In the process, he was completing Grade 1 doubles for JP McManus, Willie Mullins and Mark Walsh, who had combined to win the Ladbrokes Novice Chase earlier with Kaid D’Authie.

Remarkably, Mullins acquired both horses out of the one race in France in April 2023, when trained by Daniele Mele, and that piece of business paid dividends in handsome style today.

It was also a double for cheekpieces, the equipment credited with finding improvement for both winners, and Mullins credited Walsh with lobbying hard for their application to finally bring “the real Majborough,” to the track.

The result was an exhibition of jumping and powerful front-running, as the former Triumph Hurdle winner never saw another horse to land the spoils by 19 lengths from reigning Champion chaser Marine Nationale, who may have found the going too testing, but was never in contention for victory.

“That’s the real Majborough today,” said Walsh. 

“In Cork, he can’t go right-handed, he was too lairy in front. He wasn’t jumping. Here the last day, I tried to hold him behind horses to get a lead, and I came in and said, ‘We’re doing the wrong thing.

“He’s such a big stride, that’s his biggest asset. Willie rang me during the week and said we’d put cheekpieces on and let him roll on.

“Usually when he’s in front without the cheekpieces, he just doesn’t concentrate. He was looking at what he was doing today and sorting himself out coming to a fence.” 

And Mullins confirmed that recounting of events.

“Mark Walsh was very adamant that he wanted (cheekpieces) on and that he wanted to ride him his own way, ‘cos we’ve been telling him how to ride him one way, and then something else the next day, and Mark just said, ‘Look, I wanna do (this),’ and I said, ‘Well, we’ve failed,’ so all credit to Mark Walsh.

“You could see Mark was enjoying it and the horse was enjoying it with him. It was poetry in motion down the back. I was afraid he mightn’t have enough in the tank after the second-last but Mark said he had plenty in the tank. He threw in a terrific jump at the last and galloped up the straight.” 

It meant disappointment for Nurney trainer Barry Connell with Marine Nationale a long way back in second but he said that the heavy ground didn't suit his double Cheltenham Festival winner.

"To be fair to him he battled on to finish second. You can see what happened to the rest of them, they all pulled up. Look, it's not ideal conditions but I wanted to support the race. It'll hopefully be a different state of play at Cheltenham on nicer ground.

"He's never run on heavy before, but I thought he might get away with it. He just didn't seem to enjoy it at any stage of the race. For the first mile, he was never really travelling, which was surprising really. He crept his way into it and he battled to get up and finish second, so I'd be happy with that."

Earlier in the day, Walsh picked up the first leg of his double on Kaid D’authie. Nobody has ridden more Grade 1 winners for owner JP McManus Mark Walsh and he added to that tally when steering Kaid

D’authie (5/1) to glory in the first Grade 1 at Leopardstown this weekend, the Ladbrokes Novice Chase.

Willie Mullins supplied three of the four runners and stablemates Final Demand and Kaid D’authie separated themselves from the other duo embarking on the second circuit but with the favourite not always jumping fluently, the winner pulled himself to the front after the penultimate obstacle.

Jack Kennedy galvanised Gordon Elliott’s Western Fold for a strong finish as Walsh adopted a safety-first policy at the last but the Kildare pilot found the rail and had done more than enough to prevail by four and a quarter-lengths, with Final Demand an underwhelming 30/100 favourite in third.

It was a timely reminder by Walsh of his supreme skills, even though Harry Cobden will supplant him as McManus’ first rider next season but the ultimate team player continues to deliver.

“It’s the best he’s ever jumped,” Walsh said of his six-year-old partner on RTÉ 2. 

“He had the cheekpieces on today which was a big help. The only fence he missed was the third-last, when he got in tight and was a bit awkward but he was winging them so I couldn’t take him back. I had to let him use his jumping and use his stride.

“I’ve had loads of big winners in these colours and hopefully I’ll have many more to come,” he concluded presciently.

Mullins was delighted to see the winner transfer his homework to the track but disappointed by Final Demand’s endeavours.

“I think putting cheekpieces on today has made a huge difference,” the champion trainer offered. “It’s bringing out the ability he’s always shown me at home. He’s a horse that’s always been disappointing to me on the racetrack but cheekpieces seem to have made a difference.

“I was disappointed the way (Final Demand) jumped the second and third fences and then coming down the back the second time, he missed… and to me, that was not good enough. Paul (Townend) said he twisted a little bit in the air, I didn’t see that, but there might be some niggle there that we are not seeing. We might see it tomorrow morning. He didn’t show the enthusiasm that he normally does.”