Cheltenham Festival: Davy Russell praises master trainer after Ryanair Chase success
BySportsbeat
Updated 15/03/2018 at 17:46 GMT
Jockey Davy Russell praised 'master trainer' Henry de Bromhead after Balko Des Flos ran home to a shock victory in the Ryanair Chase.
Davy Russell, Michael O'Leary, Anita Farrell and Trainer, Henry De Bromhead clebrate the victory of Balko Des Flos in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse on March 15, 2018 in Cheltenham, England.
Image credit: Eurosport
The seven-year-old gave Gigginstown boss Michael O'Leary – the owner of budget airline Ryanair – his first win in the race he has been sponsoring since 2005 and his stud's third win in as many races.
Balko Des Flos travelled with ease turning in under Russell, fending off a late challenge from last year's winner Un De Sceaux to cruise home to victory.
"I thought his chance has lessened with the more rain that fell, but Henry de Bromhead is a master at this," Russell said.
"It wasn't ideal to hit the front that early. On his last run at Leopardstown he showed he could compete, so I'm not that surprised.
"He just had the better of the ground and the further he went, the more confident he was getting. He's trained by a master and I'm sure he'll do the right thing for him."
To the delight of de Bromhead, the win was confirmed from three out as he witnessed his charge range menacingly alongside favourite Un De Sceaux before storming into a commanding lead.
"He got such a cool ride off Davy. He got into such a lovely rhythm and his jumping was brilliant. Thankfully everything fell into place," he said.
"To win any Grade One here is fantastic and especially a championship race. To get one of the big ones is the icing on the cake of a great season. This was the focus of the season.
"There are plenty of different options coming up. Hopefully he might develop into a Gold Cup horse as he ran really well behind Road to Respect at Christmas. Or we'll come back for the Ryanair again."
The race was overshadowed by the worrying performance of crowd-favourite Cue Card, who ran his first race a year before the winner was even born.
Colin Tizzard's 12-year-old won this race in 2013 and went into the race in good form, having finished a valiant second to Waiting Patiently in February's Ascot Chase.
But the veteran was not travelling with his usual zest and jockey Paddy Brennan was left with no choice but to pull him up before the 12th in what could well be his final outing.
"He has been a very brave horse for a long time. Paddy Brennan said that he never travelled on the deep, sticky ground and when they went by him he couldn't handle it," Tizzard said.
"That just wasn't him. We're not going to make any rash statements. We will take him home and see how he is. We won't mention retirement, but it is getting closer all the time."
Cue Card and second-placed Un De Sceaux share a collective 22 years of racing experience, with 36 wins and the best part of 200 competition miles between them.
The latter looked set to become the first horse to win back-to-back Ryanair chases since Jonjo O'Neill's Albertas Run in 2012 and land Willie Mullins his third title.
But after taking up the running on the second circuit he began to fade and, despite showing a glimmer of a comeback on the straight, ultimately struggled his way up the hill in second ahead of Cloudy Dream.
Jonathan Harding/Sportsbeat 2018
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