WILLIE MULLINS experienced the joy of six in the Punchestown Gold Cup after a monster performance from Allaho.
The top-class eight-year-old galloped a strong field into the ground under Paul Townend to give Mullins an unprecedented sixth win in the race.
Allaho was a dominant winner of the Punchestown Gold Cup
Trainer Willie Mullins has won the race six times
There were slight doubts about Allaho’s stamina as he returned to three miles for the first time since 2020, with just one win from five previous tries.
But, having spent the last two seasons bullying everything in the two and a half mile division, he put the stayers in their place with a dominant victory.
He went flat out from the outset, with defending champ Clan Des Obeaux the only horse able to keep up for the majority of the race.
The relentless pace he was setting drew multiple, ragged mistakes out of his rivals, and turning for home it was a matter of ‘how far’.
He breezed clear after the last, with Clan Des Obeaux finishing second for a proud Paul Nicholls, and he is now just 7-1 with William Hill for next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Townend grinned: “We have worked out how to ride him now and I knew with the gallop we’d gone it was going to take a fair one to get by me.
“He covers so much ground, it feels like he is going half-speed most of the time. He is an absolute monster.”
Allaho’s success formed part of a memorable Grade 1 treble for Mullins, with wins from The Nice Guy and Facile Vega elsewhere on the card.
More to follow…
