Having travelled stylishly through the contest, his rider remained motionless as he sauntered to the front with a furlong to run and cruised clear of his hard-ridden rivals
Gameofinches became the new favourite for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival when bringing up a treble for Willie Mullins at Punchestown on Thursday.
He cantered to the easiest of four-and-a-quarter-length victories to leave the layers running for cover, as Gameofinches usurped stablemate Copacabana at the head of the Champion Bumper market, being as short as 3-1 for Prestbury Park glory in places. “He’s a big horse and you never know how much it takes out of them until a week or 10 days after the race.
Ballyburn is the hot favourite for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase in the Cotswolds next month, with Dancing City rated his biggest threat by bookmakers, but High Class Hero won four of his six starts over hurdles and proved himself capable of mixing it at Grade One level when pushing Dancing City close at the Punchestown Festival last spring.
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