Al Boum Photo completes Tramore treble, next stop Cheltenham

His next outing will be in the Cotswolds in March, when he will bid to join the elite band of three-time winners of the Gold Cup

Fri, 01 Jan, 2021 - 15:45

Tommy Lyons

Al Boum Photo took a successful first step on the road to joining the greats of the National Hunt sport by winning the Grade Three Savills New Year’s Day Chase for the third consecutive year.

Already assured his place amongst the best to have set foot on the racecourse, his next outing will be in the Cotswolds in March, when he will bid to join the elite band of three-time winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

For a horse of his class, the Willie Mullins-trained star had something of a soft opportunity to make a winning return, but this was an obstacle to overcome and he did it in fine style, with nothing more required.

In testing conditions, Paul Townend was happy to sit off the pace being set by Djingle, and his mount produced some brilliant jumps along the way, particularly at the two uphill fences on the side of the course.

When the front runner faded away and Al Boum Photo’s stablemate, Acapella Bougeois, took over, there was a moment when the long odds-on favourite looked in a little trouble.

But it was a fleeting moment, and he was soon back in cruise control. Without having to ask for maximum effort, Townend sent him on between the last two and the two-time Gold Cup champ jumped the last well and raced on to a success that should bring him forward considerably.

“It’s nerve-wracking watching him go around there,” admitted Mullins. “The sun was probably well in their faces coming out over the last two fences, and it probably cost Brahma Bull (fell at final fence first time).

“However, the horse (Al Boum Photo) jumped well, and Paul said he was just idle on his own in the middle of the race. He didn’t even think he was in a race, and he had to roust him up down the back, but once he got racing, he was fine. The lack of company was a bigger worry for Paul than anything else.

“Halfway around there today I was thinking it would have been easier to go to Leopardstown and whatever happened there happened. But you have to come down here and have to win, and you have to do it nicely. But he did all those things. I usually like to do what works, and it has worked before, so hopefully it will work again.

“A lot of ours are improving for their first runs, so I’m expecting and hoping he will improve.

“He hadn’t run since March and that ground is very testing out there, but we’re happy with that performance. He did what he was asked to do, and I just hope he comes out of that sound and well and we’ll plan for the Festival. That’s the first hurdle jumped anyway.”

The winning jockey was also happy with the performance and confident there would be much more to come.

“It was a different race to last year with the speed we went,” said Townend. “It was a proper test today and he ground it out well. It was job done for today.

“It was a proper gallop on testing ground and with the loose horse (Brahma Bull) taking him on, it just made Darragh (O'Keeffe, on Djingle) go a little bit faster than he wanted.

“It was a truly-run race and it’s tricky when you get left on your own like that in a race, they tend to switch off a bit. He put plenty of daylight between himself and Acapella Bourgeois come the line. Two good leaps down the straight sealed it.

“The horses in behind were all out on their feet in the straight, my horse went through the line and that’s a good sign. The pressure is off for a little while.”

Looking at the possibility of adding a third Gold Cup to the horse’s CV, Townend feels his horse is still the one to beat.

“He’s been there and done it twice, so I think he is,” he added. “I don't think he did anything wrong today. He’s won, and now all roads lead to Cheltenham, please God.”