Min, ridden by Paul Townend, made all the early running with Shattered Love and Real Steel keeping pace with the 2018 champion. With two fences left to jump Hardline was Min’s most prominent challenger and briefly took the lead before the 8-11 favourite found a burst of pace to regain the lead and win the race by two and a quarter lengths.
Trainer Willie Mullins said he felt the horse wanted to go faster but it was difficult to tell due to the windy conditions. Mullins paid tribute to the horse for recovering, saying;
To come back from what I thought was certain defeat after the second-last was very good. He picked up and threw a huge leap at the last and was going away after the last. – Willie Mullins, Trainer.
Mullins added that despite the win, Min could jump better than he did and felt that the eight-year-old could improve further, adding that the horse “go over two miles or two and a half.”
The win means it is two John Durkan Chases for the Susannah Ricci’s horse and since the horse moved from trainer Ruby Walsh to Paul Townend his record reads 1211111, the only failure was during the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle where Altior beat him.
Min has been entered in the King George and Grade 1 Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown but with the short timescales involved these races seem unlikely. The stable prefer the horse to have at least a three-week break after a race, so the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival in early February is a more realistic target.
Full Puncheston Results;
1. Min 8/11F (Paul Townend / WP Mullins). 2. Hardline 25/1 (Keith Donoghue / Gordon Elliott). 3. Presenting Percy 10/1 (J J Slevin / Patrick G Kelly). 4. Real Steel 11/2 (Mr P W Mullins / WP Mullins). 5. Voix Du Reve 25/1 (Brian Hayes / WP Mullins). 6. Snow Falcon 25/1 (Sean Flanagan / Noel Meade). 7. Shattered Love 11/2 (Jack Kennedy / Gordon Elliott). 8. Duc Des Genievres 11/1 (Robbie Power / WP Mullins). 9. Anibale Fly 25/1 (Barry Geraghty / A J Martin).
