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It was a terrific performance. He did it the hard way, out in front and jumped from fence to fence. He didn't wait around for anyone and did everything right. Paul was very happy with him. He set his own pace which is hard to do on soft ground. Paul made sure that he was going to go fast enough and try and suck the energy out of the ones behind, which he did. We thought Conflated might make the running but from the early stages we knew that wasn't the way. Paul just had to grab the race by the horns, he did and it worked out. I thought for a minute from the fifth last to the third last that JJ Slevin's body language was looking very good and he was confident in the horse he was riding. When Paul poured a little bit on and got a great jump at the second last you could see the distress signals coming out and Paul was still happy. He was able to dictate in front. Gold Cups are always important and it's nice to win another one for Greg and Audrey (Turley). It's tremendous prize-money and a tremendous day here in Leopardstown. Some people think it's a trial for Cheltenham but for me it's a race in it's own right. They need to be respected and raced for. I bring my best horses here to do that. I thought I'd never have a horse good enough to run in the race, never mind win it different years but that's the way the thing has grown and we're very lucky. W P Mullins, trainer

A steeplechase for five years old and upwards
Weights - 5-y-o 11st 4lbs 6-y-o and up 11st 10lbs Mares allowed 7lbs