David Ord uses the Timeform performance ratings to look at the five best winning displays at Punchestown last week.
He may have missed out on a third Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup success last month but Galopin Des Champs signed off his season in style with victory in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup.
It was a brutal display of power from the front under Paul Townend, the 175 performance figure the highest he’s recorded all season despite previously not being at his best at this track.
The Timeform reporter commented: “On one hand a boost to the credentials of Inothewayurthinkin but moreover confirmation he’s still the best chaser around when on song, which he clearly hadn’t been the previous month.”
The rematch with his Cheltenham conqueror will be eagerly anticipated next season.
Marine Nationale 167
The same figure he ran to when winning the BetMGM Champion Chase at Cheltenham was sufficient to land the William Hill-sponsored equivalent at Punchestown.
Barry Connell’s charge finished the campaign in great form after failing to win any of his first three races and will clearly be a major player in the division again next season although Il Etait Temps (172) and Jonbon (171) do currently have slightly higher Timeform master ratings than he does.
State Man 162
He didn’t need to run up his master rating of 167 to win the Boodles Champion Hurdle but it did feel at the time as if his winning display had been overshadowed by Constitution Hill’s blowout.
It’s worth pointing out it was a 3lbs superior performance to the one he recorded when winning the Irish Champion at the Dublin Racing Festival, and the fitting of cheekpieces for his final two starts did seem to relight the fire.
Majborough 162p
Fully 8lbs better than when third in the Arkle after ‘that’ mistake two out, Majborough signed off his novice campaign with a second Grade One win and the Timeform p intact.
It will be interesting to see what his ceiling proves to be but the Timeform report observed: “He erased the memory of his agonising Arkle failure but not totally, given his jumping even without serious error still showed a side hardly becoming of the top-drawer two-miler his ability suggests he can be, tending to go left having moved to the front before the third and saving his most marked errancy until the last when already well clear; it may turn out that he’s better suited to a Ryanair than a Champion Chase given the reduced emphasis on fast and fluent jumping.”
His jumping at Punchestown would point to him being potentially happier going left-handed.
Back to winning ways before season end, Final Demand goes out to summer grass as one of the most exciting novice chase prospects for 2025/2026.
Always held in high-regard by the Willie Mullins team, he took a step forward from his Cheltenham third behind The New Lion and reopposing Yellow Clay under more positive tactics.
They helped bring about a career-best display from the six-year-old, who’s only career defeat came in that Turners Novices’ Hurdle in March.
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