Un De Sceaux right back to his best

Tuesday, the opening day of the Punchestown, was to be Willie Mullins’ day. Expectation was high that the stable could make the necessary start in its bid to reel in championship leader Gordon Elliott in the race for the trainers’ title. And so it did.

The heavily backed Douvan was expected to lead that charge in the feature race, the Boylesports Champion Chase.

But if ever there was a horse you would want to go to war with it is Un De Sceaux, and the diminutive star, long dubbed the iron horse by those closest to him, refused to be bowed by his much-vaunted stable-companion as he bounced right back to his best with a tremendous performance.