Dysart Dynamo stakes Arkle claim with impressive chase debut
Dysart Dynamo threw his hat into the Arkle ring with a foot-perfect display in the Paddy Power “From The Horse’s Mouth Podcast” Beginners Chase at Leopardstown.
A brilliant winner of last season’s Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle, the Willie Mullins-trained six-year-old subsequently fell three from home when still travelling well in the Supreme at Cheltenham.
He failed to fire on his final outing of the campaign at the Punchestown Festival, but was nevertheless a warm order to make a successful reappearance and chasing debut as the 2-5 favourite.
Those who took the cramped odds will have had few concerns, with the keen-going gelding quickly pulling clear of his rivals and jumping accurately in front throughout in the hands of Paul Townend.
👀 The easiest winner you'll see over the Festive period
Dysart Dynamo hacks up on chasing debut, putting in some cracking leaps in the process to justify odds-on favouritism @LeopardstownRC @WillieMullinsNH | @PTownend pic.twitter.com/pr6gAGaT18
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 27, 2022
With his chief rival Slip Of The Tongue an early faller, Dysart Dynamo rounded the home turn with a massive lead and skipped over the final fence to seal a 28-length success over Irascible.
Betfair cut the winner’s Arkle odds to 5-1 from 11-1, while he is 12-1 from 20s for the longer Turners Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Mullins said: “He was pretty fast over the first couple of fences but then he settled into a rhythm. He threw in a huge jump at the first ditch down the back, but then Paul seemed to pull him back and get him into a better rhythm – he measured and jumped his fences from there on home without any problems.
“He is what you see – he gallops and jumps. He does that at home and the few times I’ve brought him away to school he’s done the same thing. He just gets out there and loves jumping and galloping.
“I think he’s settled a lot better over fences than he did over hurdles. That’s what I took from the first time I saw him schooling on grass. He really looks at his fences and takes notice of them, he wasn’t taking any notice of hurdles. That will be a big plus with him in the future.
“If you were going to draw a chaser, he’s the one you’d like.”
When asked whether a return to Leopardstown for the Irish Arkle in February could be on the agenda, the Closutton handler added: “We have a lot of horses that would fit that bill and we’ll see if there are alternatives for some of them.
“He came here and did it, so if you were coming back over course and distance he’d be one of the favourites to come back here.”
The champion trainer also claimed the opening Paddy Power “I Have No Idea What Day It Is” 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle with the promising Tekao.
Beaten into third place when odds-on for his Irish debut at Navan last month, the French recruit rewarded those who kept the faith with a cosy half-length success over Ascending under Mark Walsh.
Paddy Power cut Tekao to 25-1 from 33-1 for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, with his stablemate Lossiemouth a hot favourite at 6-4 following her runaway success on Monday.
“He took a keen hold but Mark said he was travelling well all the time. He was happy that he had come on from his last run so we’re very pleased with him,” said Mullins.
“He’ll have to step up in class. We’ll see what way this race works out but any time you win a three-year-old maiden around Leopardstown, it’s usually a good sign.”
🔥 Ridiculous form… a 62.7/1 five-timer for @WillieMullinsNH @LeopardstownRC
🏆 Tekao 10/11f🏆 Dysart Dynamo 2/5f🏆 Blue Lord 2/1🏆 Facile Vega 2/9f🏆 Winter Fog 11/2
The latter makes a mockery of a competitive handicap under Kieran Callaghan pic.twitter.com/poRFhGi12g
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 27, 2022
Mullins went on to complete a remarkable six-timer, with the Grade One triumphs of Blue Lord and Facile Vega followed by victories for Winter Fog and Fact To File.
Winter Fog (11-2) made a successful debut for the yard in the in the Paddy Power ‘Je Suis Une Baguette’ Handicap Hurdle under 7lb claimer Kieran Callaghan, while point-to-point graduate Fact To File (8-13) stayed on to deny the strong-travelling Irish Panther the bumper in the hands of the trainer’s son, Patrick.
Mullins said: “Winter Fog did it nicely and Kieran is a good young rider, a cool kid and he deserves a lot of credit. He rides a lot of work on this horse at home.
“That fella (Fact To File) took all day to get going. He was one of the favourite horses I bought last year, I loved him from the day he came. That experience today, especially what he did in the last 100 yards, will stand to him.”
Of his six-timer, Mullins added: “It’s been an extraordinary day. Our planning department at home deserves all the credit for this, putting the horses in the right races and having them right.
“Between David Casey, Ruby (Walsh) and Patrick picking out different horses for different races and then just getting ready for the race, it’s a huge team effort.
“Ben Delmar, who is our head travelling man, getting them all right. Getting the right numbers on the right horses in the Paddy Power is a feat in itself.
“I have to thank everyone, especially owners as without them we wouldn’t be here. A huge thanks to them for having faith in us to have days like this.”
The only race on the card that did not go to the Mullins team was the €200,000 Paddy Power Chase, although it was won by a former Closutton inmate in Real Steel.
Sixth in the 2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup, the nine-year-old subsequently moved to Britain to join Paul Nicholls before being bought by Eric McNamara earlier this year for £27,000.
The nine-year-old was a 33-1 shot for his latest assignment and had just enough in the tank to repel the late thrust of Diol Ker by a short head, with the trainer’s son Conor the winning rider.
“It was brilliant the way it worked out. He was well handicapped if we could rekindle him and to win one of these handicaps is great,” said McNamara senior.
What a race!! 🏇
Real Steel wins a cracking renewal of the €200,000 @paddypower Chase for father/son duo Eric & Conor McNamara @LeopardstownRC pic.twitter.com/r3GC0SX2mr
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 27, 2022
“He spent two years doing nothing in England, whatever went wrong there. We changed his routine, brought him a few different places to work and we never took him off the bridle.
“We trained him like he was a really good horse and he always worked against horses that he could beat, just to try to mentally get him back to where he was.
“He was a really good horse. He was only beaten seven and a quarter lengths in a Gold Cup.
“Conor gave him a great ride and did everything right so it’s fantastic.”
