Rest of card

THE most rousing reception on day two of the Punchestown Festival was saved for the concluding Grade 3 Weatherbys General Stud Book Irish EBF Mares Bumper when 4,000gns bargain buy Familiar Dreams continued her rags-to-riches rise through the ranks for Anthony McCann and Aine O’Connor.

Carrying the colours of the All Four Counties Syndicate, the much-improved five-year-old had to survive a stewards’ inquiry after drifting left across the track and not helping the cause of runner-up Mozzie’s Sister.

However, half a length was the margin and the stewards left the placings unaltered for the 4/1 winner to keep the race.

An emotional McCann, sporting the same Monaghan jersey as his old mentor Oliver Brady, said he hoped to retain the mare following her going through the ring at the Goffs Punchestown Sale on Thursday, though she sold for €310,000 and will now join Gordon Elliott.

“She did a piece of work at the Curragh last Tuesday on the heavy sand and blew us away,” said McCann.

“She came across the track and I don’t know why. Maybe she wanted to show herself off because she’s going into the sales ring on Thursday evening! It’s been a dream. I sourced her myself.”

Normal service

Talk about making a strong first impression. Gavin Cromwell helped to cap off his best season yet by sending out stable debutant Backtonormal (7/1) to land the €75,000 Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series Final under Sean Flanagan. Making his first start for the red-hot Co Meath yard, he found generously for pressure and took advantage of the keenness shown by Answer To Kayf and final-flight blunder of Blizzard Of Oz to score by two and three quarters of a length. The success was savoured by the ownership partnership of Darren Cahill, Mary Furlong and Michael Byrne.

Cromwell said: “It’s a great pot to win. This was his first run for me - Mags [Mullins] had him and he was banging on the door in these types of races - and this looked an obvious target. It looks like he’ll make a nice chaser.”

Happy Henry

After a frustrating afternoon on day one of the Punchestown Festival when second in two Grade 1s and third in the other, Henry de Bromhead got on the scoresheet for the 2024 meeting when Gorgeous Tom came out on top in a cracking finish to the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel Hurdle under Darragh O’Keeffe.

Paul Townend, riding even-money favourite Mistergif, was forced to wait for a gap to appear behind runners at the top of the straight but shot through when daylight arrived and held every chance.

However, the Envirogreen Housing Services Ltd-owned winner, who was sent off a well-backed 4/1 shot, was able to match that turn of foot and probably outstayed the market leader on the run-in by a length.

“I suppose the polite word for Tuesday was frustrating,” quipped de Bromhead. “The majority of them ran really well.

“We’ve always liked Gorgeous Tom. He probably just struggled on winter ground early on. We hoped better ground and stepping him up in trip would suit him.”

Champ cashes in

De Bromhead made it a double on the day when Lets Go Champ, owned by Roger Brookhouse, rewarded strong market support in the Grade 3 HSS Hire Handicap Chase under Rachael Blackmore.

A 7/1 shot in the morning, he finished strongly as the 11/4 favourite in an incident-packed race where two fell and two were brought down.

De Bromhead said: “Roger is a great supporter of ours and lost a very good friend, Tom, only recently who came every year with him and he wants to dedicate that to him. This horse ran very well here last year and was a little bit unlucky. He could be a Galway Plate horse but we’ll see what the handicapper does and what everybody wants to do.”

Man of the moment

It was probably only fitting that the Adare Manor Opportunity Series Final Handicap Hurdle went the way of the standout conditional rider of the season, Danny Gilligan, who partnered Harsh to success in the colours of Gigginstown House Stud.

Last seen finishing fourth in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, the 17/2 shot caught the eye travelling noticeably well here and asserted clear to win by two and three quarters of a length, continuing an excellent start to the week for Joseph O’Brien.

“He ran well at Cheltenham and the extra couple of furlongs suited him today,” said O’Brien. “I thought Danny gave him a very good ride. He could go to Galway and the Lartigue Hurdle is an obvious race for him afterwards.”