Four of the last six winners of the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle have started favourite for the Supreme Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival two months later – Vautour and Douvan among them – and the latest renewal highlighted two leading prospects for the spring festivals as Andy Dufresne and Captain Guinness finished 15 lengths clear of their rivals at Punchestown on Sunday.
For Andy Dufresne, the result offered a measure of redemption after the loss of his unbeaten record over hurdles at Navan in mid-December but it was not earned without a struggle.
Captain Guinness was pulling hard in the early stages and Rachael Blackmore allowed him to stride on into the lead after the third flight, and a brilliant jump at the second-last meant Andy Dufresne, the odds-on favourite, still had two lengths to find on the run to the final flight. Captain Guinness then lost vital momentum with a slight mistake and Andy Dufresne responded well to pressure to edge three-quarters of a length in front at the line.
Andy Dufresne, who cost JP McManus £330,000 after winning a point-to-point last year, is now a 16-1 chance for both the Supreme Novice Hurdle and the Ballymore Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, while Henry de Bromhead’s Captain Guinness, who was making only his second start over hurdles, is 20-1 for the Supreme.
“He got beat by a good horse of Paul Nolan’s [Latest Exhibition] the last day in Navan,” Gordon Elliott, Andy Dufresne’s trainer, said. “But that was more like it today. He took a bit of organising around the last bend but, when he straightened up, he jumped the last well. He galloped to the line and has won over two and a half. I’m not sure what the plans are [for Cheltenham]. I’ll have to talk to the lads.”
De Bromhead was understandably delighted with Captain Guinness’s run and could run him in the Chanelle Pharma (formerly Deloitte) Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown next month. “He was quite free and was entitled to get found out a little bit,” the trainer said, “and it didn’t help that he got in a bit close to the last. He’s in the Grade One at the Dublin Racing Festival. It may be a bit close, but we’ll see how he is.”
Southwell 12.25 Le Manege Enchante 12.55 National Anthem (nb) 1.25 Navajo Dawn 1.55 Luck Of Clover 2.30 Suitcase ‘N’ Taxi 3.00 Break The Silence 3.35 Le Musee
Lingfield 12.35 Young Lieutenant 1.05 Flaminger 1.35 Crossley Tender 2.05 Mickey Buckman 2.40 Mole Trap 3.10 High Up In The Air 3.45 Ninth Wave
Wolverhampton 4.20 Dame Rapide 4.50 Fuente 5.20 Ken’s Sam’s 5.50 Raymond Tusk 6.20 Kaser (nap) 6.50 Never Alone 7.20 Beau Geste
