Townshend has jumping prowess to make Cheltenham mark

As the festival draws closer, clues in the on-track action are getting thinner on the ground, but one horse which went straight into the notebook following Saturday’s meeting at Fairyhouse was Townshend.

The evidence from the two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle suggests the Willie-Mullins-trained gelding should have no trouble making his mark in handicap company before, possibly, moving on to better things.

A horse with one flat victory and one over hurdles prior to last weekend’s debut for the stable, the Lord Of England gelding was most notable for the manner with which he jumped.