WILLIE Mullins came up short in his bid to upset Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle but hopes he may have found a fresh contender to challenge Nicky Henderson’s outstanding talent in Impaire Et Passe, who bolted up by six and a half lengths in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.

Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s five-year-old is now unbeaten in his trio of starts over hurdles, and it was his superior speed over this two-and-a-half-mile trip that his rivals were unable to live with.

Travelling strongly and gaining ground at a number of his hurdles under Paul Townend, the 5/2 chance shot clear of the field quickly after turning into the straight.

The Diamond Boy gelding led home a 1-2-3 for Ireland’s champion trainer, with Gaelic Warrior posting another Festival second - after finishing runner-up in last year’s Boodles - and Champ Kiely claiming third.

“I was very impressed with the performance,” Mullins said of the 5/1 second favourite for next year’s Champion Hurdle.

“What happened when he got through a gap to quicken up approaching the straight was what blew me away. The change of pace down to the last and up the hill - wow. That was the horse’s fourth run in his life, so there’s huge improvement there. I’m looking at him as a chaser but you have to ask yourself now, do you stay hurdling?

“You have to look at everything, including the Champion Hurdle. On Tuesday I was telling Michael Buckley that we’ll have to go shopping again to find one to beat his Constitution Hill, but maybe we haven’t yet! He’s in the same sort of mould with his speed, jumping and the way he came up the hill, so maybe we have one.”

On his other placed runners, Mullins added: “Gaelic Warrior didn’t settle as well as we’d want him to, but Patrick said he could go up to three miles. He’ll be a big, strong chaser down the line.

“Champ Kiely surprised me by staying on so well. Danny said he hung terribly down the back, I don’t know why he did that. We’ll see if there’s some problem but he’s another one who will make a nice chaser.”

Back-to-back Ballymores

It was Townend’s second win in the Ballymore after scoring a year earlier aboard Sir Gerhard, and he was particularly impressed by the 2023 hero.

“He’s a dream ride,” said Townend. “I was hoping coming here that he would be that ride. He’s shown me that before and it worked out brilliantly today.

“From his first day, he showed us a lot on the track and not so much at home. But he’s turned a corner at home too and has been doing nice work. I was delighted when I felt him taking off underneath me.”