THE Willie Mullins bandwagon is really starting to go full steam as the champion trainer picked up from where he left off at Naas on Friday by taking the feature €100,000 SBK Dan & Joan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase with Uncle Phil.

The Joe and Marie Donnelly-owned chaser jumped smoothly from a prominent position, and though the very well-backed favourite Letsbeclearabout looked a real threat before the home turn, Paul Townend always looked happy, bringing his horses over to the stands’ side rail.

He kept on nicely for a three-and-three-quarter-length score over Lucid Dreams with Letsbeclearaboutit back in third.

Uncle Phil only got to a level of 125 over fences but he’s clearly a different proposition over fences, scoring his third win from six starts off a mark of 139. His jumping was key and there could be a lot more to come, as it was notable that his rider was very much hoping for no further rain so he may well have been winning in spite of the soft ground.

The Grand Annual looks a natural target for him at the Cheltenham Festival.

“His run in Punchestown against Imagine (in Grade 2 Craddockstown at Punchestown) was decent,” said the winning rider. “He probably got his own way that day but today his jumping was so good, he was putting them under pressure behind them and the drying ground helped.

“You don't know what to expect coming here but I thought his jumping and his run the last day would bring him a long way. Every dry day was helping him.”

Uncle Phil brought up a double on the card for Willie Mullins, who saw Miss Manzor lead home stablemate Karia Des Blaises in the opening juvenile hurdle.

Lucid Dreams had finished just in front of Uncle Phil off level weights in the Craddockstown and conceding 3lbs to him here, ran very close to that form again. He’s a consistent and classy operator for John Ryan and may well be able to scoop one of these big prizes over this trip.

For the second time in a row Letsbeclearaboutit looked dangerous before failing to see his race out satisfactorily. He remains a talented operator who could be dangerous going forward.