Punchestown Festival: Charbel value in Champion Novice Hurdle

Yorkhill a class act

Yorhill comes into the race on the back of a hat-trick of successes in Grade 1 company and is undoubtedly a class act.

Having landed the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown, the Willie Mullins trained six-year-old took the scalp of the highly-regarded Yanworth in the Neptune Investement Management Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in terrific style.

After travelling strongly throughout in mid-division, Yorkhill scythed through the field to be on the heels of the leaders turning for him before showing a good turn of foot to take up the running at the last.

The son of Presenting then kept on strongly to fend off Yanworth by 1 1/2 lengths, with the pair pulling seven lengths clear of the third home.

It was a performance which oozed class, and the gelding has since gone on to follow-up with a 2 1/12 length success in the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

Concerns race may come too soon

Yorkhill pulled like a train and was made to work very hard before asserting near the finish, and Mullins said after the race that he believed that it may have come too soon after Cheltenham.

I felt that would be the last outing for Yorkhill this season and am somewhat surprised that he is being turned out again so soon after those exertions.

For that reason I think that he could be vulnerable, and Charbel looks the one to capitalise if Yorkhill gets up to similar antics and does find the race one too many.

Related

Check out our horse racing archive, and more specifically our dedicated Punchestown section.

Coral’s top tip: Charbel has been kept fresh for the race and looks decent value to inflict a first hurdles’ defeat on classy Yorkhill.