Guitar Pete wins as Analifet pulls up
Guitar Pete jumps the last under Bryan Cooper
© Photo Healy Racing
Red-hot favourite Analifet was pulled up after just three flights as Guitar Pete claimed victory in the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown.
The Willie Mullins-trained Analifet had been hugely impressive on her first two Irish starts at Punchestown and Fairyhouse and was the 3-10 favourite to complete a hat-trick in this Grade Two contest. Clarcam was left to lead the remaining four runners, but Dessie Hughes' Guitar Pete (9-2) had far more to give in the straight and pulled clear in the hands of Bryan Cooper to score by seven lengths.
Hughes said: "He is a smashing little horse. I brought him over to Cheltenham and he ran a cracker there on his last start.
"He has a good, tough pedigree and he will go back to Cheltenham now, for either the Triumph or the Fred Winter, but he will probably have another run before then."
Analifet, previously the ante-post favourite for the Triumph Hurdle, was taken back to the stable yard with a suspected pelvic injury, but Patrick Mullins revealed her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.