WE have seen some really smart novice chasers over the Christmas period and Fact To File (4/6 favourite) has to be right up there with him after he produced a near flawless round of jumping to get off the mark over fences in the Ballymaloe Relish Rising Stars Beginners Chase for Mark Walsh, Willie Mullins and J.P. McManus.

He jumped to the front at the second last down the back and it was a procession from here, Mark Walsh allowing him to stride on past the omitted last fence, and it was all of 17 lengths back to Zanahiyr, with the winner’s stablemate Minella Cocooner fading tamely on his seasonal debut.

It was an intriguing decision to skip a novice hurdling campaign but this performance fairly justified that decision, and the champion trainer was conspicuous by how positive he viewed the performance and horse after the race.

“I’ve always loved him, ever since he came into the yard,” Mullins said. “Last year connections were keen to go novice hurdling but I thought he was good enough to win a Champion Bumper. He only found one too good there and I just thought we should go novice chasing straight away because he looks a real chaser.

“I think he showed everyone today he’s the horse I think he is or horse I think he could be. He’s a natural jumper. That’s what he does at home and that’s what Donnchadh Doyle (previous handler) told me, he’s a tremendous jumper. He came from the right place and is by a top French sire, everything is right with him and it’s going right in the race track so far.

“He is a horse that settles and travels over any trip. I’d be looking at the Brown Advisory and I think he’s a future Gold Cup horse.”

It was a treble on the day for Mullins and Townend and that sequence began with yet another impressive novice when Jade De Grugy (5/4 favourite) was an easy winner of the opening Savills Maiden Hurdle.

An AQPS winner in France and making her hurdles/stable/seasonal debut here, the Kenny Alexander-owned mare showed a lovely attitude in this two-and-a-half-mile contest, clearly well able to handle the testing ground conditions. She raced prominently with Galway bumper winner Butcher Hollow and it was between this pair initially in the straight, before she pulled 15 lengths away from Tom Cooper’s horse after the last.

“She’s exciting,” Townend said. “She obviously stays well, the ground was testing there. She has a lovely attitude, settled well and jumped well. I was probably going easy, so able to dictate it. She did it very nicely.”

AFTER finding just one too good on both of her two starts this season, Ted Walsh’s Gaoth Chuil (5/1) was a gutsy winner of the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle under a fine ride from Shane O’Callaghan.

The Michael Ryan-owned daughter of Harzand travelled sweetly into contention at the beginning of the straight, joined Farouk D’alene at the last and fought both that rival and Nine Graces off tenaciously, with the final qualifying spot for the Pertemps Final going to the favourite here Foxy Jacks.

“It’s great to win,” said the winning trainer. “Leopardstown is a special old place. She is a good tough little mare, bred and owned by Michael Ryan. She’s by Harzand, a good stallion, she stays well, and it was great.

“She ran two crackers this season. She is a tough little thing and she is only five. Whether she’ll run at Cheltenham or not is a question mark. You have the option.”

Two better

Music Of Tara (7/2 favourite) went two better than last year in the Irish Daily Star Handicap Hurdle, with a strong staying performance for Rachael Blackmore, Henry de Bromhead and owners Robcour and Mrs Paul Shanahan.

The daughter of Kayf Tara had run nicely in a two-mile handicap hurdle at Navan on seasonal debut, and she was well supported in the market off the back of that run, with the step up in trip very much likely to play to her strengths. She had plenty to do early in the straight, but she really picked up well when getting daylight and was a comfortable winner over Paul Nolan’s Heliko Conti, who ran well again on his second start for his new stable.

“She’s a really gutsy mare and Rachael was brilliant on her so I’m delighted for the Achesons and the Shanahans,” said de Bromhead. “She had been knocking on the door so we said we’d have a go at this and it’s nice when it works out.”

On her future plans, the trainer added: “We could come back here to the Dublin Racing Festival for the three-mile handicap hurdle or we could go for a Pertemps qualifier. She has to go left handed. I doubt she’d have enough pace for the ‘two-mile-two’ here (Paddy Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle)”

Gordon Elliott completed a double on the card when he combined with Harry Swan to take the closing two-mile Midland Legal Solicitors Flat Race with Patter Merchant, who just saw off the challenge of the Willie Mullins-trained Sounds Victorious and Jody Townend to become the sixth winning favourite on the day (1/2).

The pair of them dominated the betting and dominated proceedings on the track, coming all of 48 lengths clear.

On the Gigginstown-owned winner, who won his four-year-old maiden in Dromahane only last month, Elliott said: “You probably won’t see much more of him, he’s a horse for next year. Harry said he should have let him stride on, he’s just a galloper. We like him.”