Workmanlike Fly fails to impress connections
Said Walsh: “I’m relieved. From the time we jumped the first hurdle I was never, shall we say, happy.
“Half way down the back, I was kind of thinking to myself that I wouldn’t mind being on Zaidpour.
“He was nowhere near the horse that won at Leopardstown, today he was more like the one that ran at Cheltenham.
“He was lethargic at Cheltenham, was lethargic again here, but pure ability won him the day. He needs a summer’s grass now to freshen him up.
“Hurricane was flat and only exceptional horses can win when they are like that. As I said in my Examiner column this morning, I really fancied Zaidpour to run a big race.”
Thousand Stars carried them along at swinging gallop, tracked by Zaidpour, with Walsh in no particular hurry.
Heading to the home turn, Paul Townend kicked hard on Zaidpour and, for a few strides at least, appeared to have Hurricane Fly in trouble.
But the former champion was having none of it, grabbed a marginal advantage at the last and stayed on to beat Zaidpour by two and a half lengths.
It was another six lengths back to Thousand Stars, giving Mullins his second 1-2-3 of the week in a Grade 1.
Said Mullins: “I wasn’t very happy with Hurricane Fly passing the winning post for the first time.
“His class won the day for him.
“It’s tacky out there and sometimes, as horses get older, they have a preference for different ground.
“He used to be very keen, but is now settling far better. Perhaps, it is time to start training and riding him differently.
“He had a hard race at Cheltenham and might have been thinking about that. The plan next season will be to get him out earlier and do what we did the previous season. Zaidpour ran a cracker and he and Thousand Stars will now head to Auteuil.”
