ALL eyes were on the winner of Roscommon’s big race on Tuesday night – but punters also noticed a potential diamond in the rough.
Because a Willie Mullins-trained horse – who had been off the track for an incredible 1,459 DAYS – caught plenty of eyes in third place behind the exciting Espionage.
Punters reckon Willie Mullins could be celebrating some big wins with his horse Jackfinbar
Jackfinbar, now an eight-year-old, was making his debut for the top jumps trainer in the Listed Lenebane Stakes.
The horse was previously trained by Harry Dunlop in Lambourn but was transferred to Mullins’ Closutton yard after Dunlop quit the training ranks at the end of the 2022 Flat season.
The gelding has low mileage for his age and was a Group 3 winner in France in 2018, and before this week he hadn’t been seen since finishing last of five in the Coral Marathon at Sandown four years ago.
So Mullins, who is also capable of firing in big winners on the Flat as he showed with Vauban at Royal Ascot, will have been very encouraged by this performance.