Paddy's Rewards Club Chase
Grade 1, Leopardstown 13:10
€125,000 guaranteed,
5yo plus,
2m 1f, Class 1  
Friday 27th December 2024

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1 Solness 28/1
2 Gaelic Warrior 13/8F
3 Marine Nationale 9/2
9 ran NR: Senecia Distances: 3¾l, ¾l, 14l
Time: 4m 8.20s (fast by 4.80s)

Solness rewarded the faith of his connections who decided to supplement him into the race, giving Joseph O’Brien his second Grade One success of the Christmas period. Just 24 hours after witnessing Banbridge's victory in the King George VI Chase at Kempton, O’Brien returned to Ireland to see the 28-1 scorer lead his rivals a merry dance.

Having been well beaten behind Jonbon in the Tingle Creek last time out, J J Slevin took no prisoners on the six-year-old, taking an early lead and charting a wide passage. As Solness maintained his advantage at the head of affairs, one by one the big hitters like Gaelic Warrior, Found A Fifty, Dinoblue, and Marine Nationale began to struggle.

Gaelic Warrior, making his first run of the season, managed to stay on past Marine Nationale to finish second, but was still three and three-quarter lengths behind the victor. Solness was introduced into the Champion Chase betting at 25-1 by Paddy Power, while Gaelic Warrior was pushed out to 5-1 from 7-2, with Jonbon tightened at the head of the betting to 2-1 from 5-2.

O’Brien expressed his delight with the performance, saying, “I actually had this lad in the mile-and-a-half maiden at Dundalk last Friday! Ground is important to him. I spoke to J J before and he felt that he’d go wide and find the driest strip of ground that he could find. He jumped fantastic and looked to be going very smooth all the way through the race.”

Solness was added to the race at a cost of €12,500. O’Brien admitted, “I probably should have had him in it, to be honest, but the race closed before he ran very well in Navan in graded company. Since then, he looked like he was competing at this level, so we had a discussion the other morning and I thought he could sneak into the first three – and he had to be third to get the money back. We said we’d take a chance and I’m delighted to win.”

Despite being hampered and narrowly losing out to Found A Fifty at Navan, O’Brien remained confident in Solness’ abilities. He added, “Some days you get the rub of the green and some days you don’t, but we were very happy with the run. What we learned that day was that he could mix it with the graded two-milers. Coming here today, we thought he had a real live each-way chance, but the ground was a little bit slower than he maybe ideally likes. We said we’d go as wide as we can to get the best strip we can. He just got into a great rhythm. I think he made one mistake down the back but he was on the bridle straight away and jumped fantastic from there on.”

Barry Connell was pleased with Marine Nationale’s performance in finishing third, stating, “He was only beaten four lengths. He’s had very little experience over fences and I thought his jumping was very good. He had a good blow after it and I think he’s coming forward. I’d like to think he’ll come back for the Dublin Racing Festival and he’ll take another step forward.”

When asked if Marine Nationale could aim at the Champion Chase, Connell added, “Absolutely, why not? He’s finished right alongside Gaelic Warrior who is second-favourite for it.”

SureWIn

Paddy's Rewards Club Chase
 €125,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m 1f, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Good to Yielding, Yielding in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Solness 6 11-12 Joseph O'Brien J J Slevin 28/1
2 3¾ Gaelic Warrior 6 11-12 W P Mullins Mr P W Mullins 13/8F
3 ¾ Marine Nationale 7 11-12 Barry Connell Sean Flanagan 9/2
4 14 Dinoblue 7 11-5 W P Mullins Mark Walsh 4/1
5 7 Captain Guinness 9 11-12 Henry De Bromhead Rachael Blackmore 11/1
6 7½ Blue Lord 9 11-12 W P Mullins Daryl Jacob 25/1
7 2¾ Gentleman De Mee 8 11-12 W P Mullins Danny Mullins 33/1
8 12 Visionarian 9 11-12 Gavin Cromwell Keith Donoghue 150/1
PU Found A Fifty 7 11-12 Gordon Elliott Sam Ewing 4/1
NR 7 Senecia 7 11-12 Vincent Laurence Halley NON RUNNER

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