Fakir D'oudairies defeats Melon in the Beginners' Chase© Photo Healy Racing
The bookmakers were right in pricing up the Irish Stallion Farms Beginners’ Chase as a match, as Melon (9/10 fav) and Fakir D’oudairies (2/1) fought out the finish well clear of the others.
In the end, it was the latter who prevailed by three lengths to give Mark Walsh a treble on the afternoon.
Like his other two winners for his retained owner JP McManus, the French-bred impressed with his jumping as he pressed on down the back straight and attempted to utilise the experience gained from a couple of chase starts as a three-year-old in France.
The favourite stuck to his guns, and probably faced a stiff task trying to give 8lbs weight-for-age to the winner, who was given a quote of 8/1 (from 20s) by Paddy Power for the Racing Post Arkle Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham in March.
A Grade 2 winner over hurdles at that track in January, the Kapgarde gelding was also runner-up to Pentland Hills at Aintree and Fusil Raffles at Punchestown in Grade 1 events later in the spring.
Of the rest, I’m A Game Changer (20/1) ran with credit on his first start for Gordon Elliott, finishing a further thirteen lengths back in third.
“He was a decent horse last year and he loves that bit of juice in the ground,” said winning trainer Joseph O'Brien.
“I'm delighted to see him jump so well. He was a good jumper at home, obviously, but they have to go and do it. He's a very exciting horse.
“He could go for the Drinmore or something. He doesn't have to go further than two but I'm fairly confident he'll stay further.
“He's very straight-forward, a lovely horse.”
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
