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Punchestown 2024
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- Review gowran park 23rd Jun
Review gowran park 23rd Jun
Giant's Quest produces a fine leap
© Photo Healy Racing
It was back to business as usual for Willie Mullins as he landed the feature race at Gowran Park with the Ruby Walsh-ridden Security Breach
The champion jumps trainer went close to Gold Cup glory at Royal Ascot and has since had two winners on the Flat, but the Jack Duggan Memorial Handicap Hurdle was a more familiar target.
A well-beaten favourite at Killarney last time, Security Breach (13-2) left that form well behind as he led over the final two flights in the Gigginstown House Stud colours and held the well-backed USA to win by two and a quarter lengths.
Walsh doubled up when Harry Rogers' 8-13 favourite Giant's Quest put his rivals to the sword in the Follow Gowran Park On Facebook Maiden Hurdle, lengthening away from the last to score by five and a half lengths.
The Andy Lynch-trained Zabana (3-1) made it two wins from three starts over jumps with an emphatic success in the hands of Robbie Colgan in the www.gowranpark.ie Hurdle.
Settled behind the pace set by Shabra Emperor he took over on the home bend chased by Hurricane Ridge and after building a decisive lead between the final two flights, had enough in the tank to hold the joint-favourite by three-quarters of a length.< Ballinalacken was a point-to-point faller at the beginning of the month, but there were no such alarms in the Goresbridge Maiden Hurdle as Pat Doyle's 6-1 shot, ridden by his son Jack, engaged in a duel with favourite Top Cat Henry from the last and won by a head.
There was mayhem in the first leg of the Joe Bollard Memorial Flat Race won by Bach To Whitingbay (6-1) when Once And For All suffered an injury and fell, sparking a sequence in which several others were either brought down, slipped up or unseated.
All the jockeys were reported to have escaped unscathed, though Nina Carberry was taken to hospital for X-rays on her collarbone after a fall on the way to the start on Kilaspy