Neptune Collonges claims Hennessy Gold Cup
Neptune Collonges got his season back on track with a comfortable success in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown.
The 8-13 market leader tracked The Listener for much of the three-mile contest and moved effortlessly to the front halfway down the back straight.
It seemed a matter of how far from that point on and although Welsh National winner Notre Pere stuck to his guns well at second, Neptune Collonges only had to be kept up to his work to score by five lengths.
William Hill and Paddy Power cut the winner to 6-1 from 7-1 to go two places better than last year’s third-placed finish in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, while the latter pushed out stablemate Denman to 9-2 from 4-1.
Hills make the runner-up 25-1 for the blue riband event at the Festival in March, the same price as Victor Chandler.
