Willie Mullins saddled the winner of the Unibet Irish Gold Cup for a record tenth time as Bellshill just got the better of Road To Respect in a superb finish to the highlight of the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown.

The drying ground conditions — officially good, good to firm in places — spoiled the three-mile Grade 1 event resulting in six of the ten declared runners coming out.

Bellshill (2/1) and Road To Respect (5/6 favourite) dominated the revamped market and they also traded blows at the head of affairs.

Road To Respect’s jumping was far from perfect but he took a slight advantage over Bellshill into the final fence.

Ruby Walsh waited until the run-in before asking for maximum effort from the Graham and Andrea Wylie-owned gelding and just got up by a short-head in a thriller. The Storyteller could find no extra after two out to finish seven and a half lengths away in third, while Outlander was beaten over half a mile out and trailed in last of the four.

Mullins said, “Ruby was fantastic. We didn't want a slow pace and he didn't think there was much pace in the race so he elected to make it.

“Then when Sean went by him Ruby was happy to sit there. What I really liked about the horse was that every time Ruby wanted a jump he took two lengths out of the one in front. He knew that he had that in hand and he was very confident and cool over the last three fences, I thought. He used the other horse as a lead. I thought he might pull out more after the last but he pulled out enough.

“A lot of horses didn't turn up but still the quality horses were here and they served up a fantastic race. We might have a few nice horses to go to Cheltenham with this year.

“He's always promised to be this good. Now he's won his Irish Gold Cup and hopefully we'll follow on, maybe, next month. He was very good at Christmas but he needed it. Road To Respect was unlucky at Christmas but we needed it.”

Bellshill is a best priced 14/1 with Unibet for the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup. Betfair go 12/1 (from 20/1) while Boylesports are also 12/1 (from 16/1) with Paddy Power quoting just 10/1 (from 16/1).

Road To Respect is generally a 12/1 chance, while Presenting Percy is a top-priced 3/1 (with Unibet, bet365 and Boylesports) favourite.

(GC & AM)