Galopin Des Champs back on track with Fairyhouse win | Racing News
Galopin Des Champs consigned his final-fence Cheltenham Festival fall to the past with Grade One victory at Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday.
The black son of Timos was sent off as the 2/11 favourite on the back of what looked like being a demolition job on Bob Olinger in the Turners Novices’ Chase Cheltenham, before he sent Paul Townend sprawling, and he didn’t put a foot wrong on this occasion.
Townend, who was completing a big-race double on the day having guided Brandy Love to success in the mares’ novices’ hurdle earlier in the afternoon, was able to dictate matters on the long-striding Galop Des Champs, setting out on front and jumping boldly from the off.
The hugely exciting horse had his three rivals under the pump on the run to the second-last and two more solid jumps sealed the deal, Galopin Des Champs cruising home to score emphatically by Master McShee, with Riviere D’Etel a close third.
The win takes Galopin Des Champs’ chasing record to three wins from four starts and he is 4/1 joint-favourite (along with A Plus Tard) for next season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup with Betfair and Paddy Power. Sky Bet also left him unchanged at 7/2 for the 2023 Gold Cup.
