Ruby Walsh didn't hide his regard for Call The Police in the run-up to the MCR Hurdle during RTE's coverage and the lightly-raced eight-year-old of course performed with a degree of credit to finish runner-up to his Willie Mullins trained stable companion Final Approach there. Well on outing number two for Closutton this afternoon Call The Police justified strong-backing (11/10 this morning into 8/11) under Paul Townend in the Follow Us On Facebook Hurdle at Punchestown.

Bringing up a double for Mullins and Townend after the earlier success of Fiveforthree it was similarly straight-forward for Call The Police as he took over from Heavenly Blues at the last before going on to score by six lengths.

Harold Kirk, representing Mullins, said: "Willie was talking about the Coral Cup with him and though a performance like that might put him out of it, it's still an option.

"The other option would be to stay at home with him as he's a chaser for next year though we'll try to win another hurdle with him first as that was only his fifth start on the racecourse.

"He is potentially a very smart sort over fences."