Vaucelet delights Christie with game effort

Vaucelet punched his ticket to Cheltenham when rallying to score by a neck in the three mile McMahon McKay Hospitality Hunters Steeplechase at Down Royal.

He drifted out to 2/1 and wouldn't have been overly enamoured with the soft, yielding to soft in places ground, but rallied strongly on the run-in to catch last year's winner Dorking Cock (17/2). Coastal Tiep was another seven lengths back in third at 20/1.

Trainer Davy Christie said: "It is not his ground. We had a discussion this morning whether we would run him or not, but there are so few races for him. It is only really Thurles I would want to take him to in the spring time. I wouldn't take him to Naas in the glue.

"We came anyway thinking we could be beaten today, but we need to get battle hardened because he has been doing nothing really.

"He only kicks in at three miles, he really stays well. Funny enough, if the second-last fence had been there, it would have been even better for him. In the back of Barry's (O'Neill) mind all the time was Punchestown (bad mistake at the last when finishing second in the Champion Hunters Steeplechase in April).

"Barry just sat on him over the last and was careful and he lost a bit of momentum but then he really picked up and stayed.

"I'm chuffed to bits because of all the days that he would be beaten in a hunters' chase today would be that day.

"All roads lead to Cheltenham because it is three mile three up the hill. He kicks in at three miles which is what you need.

"He could possibly go to the hunters chase at Thurles and then Cheltenham. If he runs between now and Cheltenham, it is one we would consider.

"This is our number one Cheltenham horse here. He's very young, he's only seven. The nicer the ground, the better he is. The ground he won on at Stratford and Punchestown was lovely ground.

"We'll keep our fingers crossed we get him there. I wouldn't be averse to going to Cheltenham without a run. He's a big, tall, athletic horse and he's not a stuffy horse.

"He is a much stronger horse this year. I'm absolutely thrilled with that."