Lossiemouth charged home in the Mares’ Hurdle to retain her crown and give Willie Mullins his eleventh victory in this historic race.
Jade De Grugy (5/1) led early, but Lossiemouth (4/6) followed confidently in second. Just about halfway through the gap was three lengths but as they took on the last four hurdles, Lossiemouth charged and led over the last and scorched to win the race and retain her title as Mares’ Hurdle Champion.
Gala Marceau (80/1) fell with two hurdles to go, the finishing order went as follows;
1 Lossiemouth (FR) 4/6
2 Jade De Grugy (FR) 5/1
3 Take No Chances (IRE) 22/1
Jockey Reaction – Paul Townend
“ She wasn’t too bad to be fair, she carried me. I know Jade De Grugy is decent, I wasn’t going to give her free rein.
“She’s [Lossiemouth] a high class mare. We went a fair gallop for a while at Leopardstown, she was probably expecting that again when we jumped off but she was fine, I was doing half speed everywhere.”
Trainer Reaction – Willie Mullins
“She was very good, I was disappointed that we didn’t have a crack at the Champion Hurdle. But I worked her against State Man the other day, and it wasn’t a Champion Hurdle bit of work.
“So the obvious thing was to come back. It’s disappointing for everyone who’s waiting for the clash, as well as us but you just look at where you get winners.”
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