Slick Saldier shows his liking for fences

Saldier made the perfect start to life over fences, as he put in an exhibition of jumping in the opener at Thurles, the Horse & Jockey Beginners Chase.

The dual Grade 1 winning hurdler was sent off the clear 4/9 favourite and after racing prominently in the early stages, he established a definite advantage with just over a circuit to race.

Pushed along by Paul Townend entering the straight, he looked vulnerable on the approach to the last as Solness travelled that bit better in second.

However, the Willie Mullins trained victor jumped the final fence fluently, as he did throughout and found more for pressure on the run-in, coming home two-and-a-quarter lengths to the good in the colours of Rich and Susanna Ricci.

The aforementioned Solness (8s early, returned 4/1) had to settle for second under JJ Slevin for Joseph O'Brien, while Francois (7/1) was 27 lengths back in third.

"It's the first time Paul has come in after a beginners chase saying that he wanted more jumps!" said Mullins.

"I've watched him schooling at home and he just loves it, it lights his fire.

"When he went out in front he was idling and the minute a horse came up behind him, or he saw a fence, he just took off.

"It's late in the season but we had to do something with him and we decided to give him a shot at going over fences.

"He's well able to handle the minimum trip, and he loves jumping, so I'd imagine that's the direction we'll go.

"When we bought him we didn't think of him as a novice chaser, he was a Flat/hurdle horse.

"He's just had training problems all along and the way the season has panned out we gave him a few pops over fences, a few weeks ago, and he just took to it like a duck to water. It was a bit of a surprise to us but we're delighted.

"I'd imagine he'll stay at home and we'll try to keep him sound. If we can keep him in that kind of form there are races to be picked up at home rather than travelling.

"I'm not sure he likes travelling either in his later years. He has been disappointing when we've brought him abroad."

Additional reporting by Gary Carson