Sharjah ran out an impressive winner of the Matheson Hurdle for the second successive year at Leopardstown.
The victory means Willie Mullins has now won the Grade One seven times in the last 10 years - but the champion trainer will have been left scratching his head after his apparent first string Klassical Dream finished last of the five runners.
Last season's Supreme Novices' Hurdle hero was bounding along merrily at the head of affairs with Petit Mouchoir, winner of the race in 2016, when he made a jolting error at halfway - almost coming down.
Paul Townend allowed him time to regain composure before trying to get involved in the race once more - but soon after turning into the straight, it was obvious his race was run and he was eased heavily.
Petit Mouchoir kept up the gallop, but Patrick Mullins loomed up cruising on his outside - and as soon as the button was pressed, the race was over.
The 9-2 chance sprinted three and three-quarter lengths clear and saw his Champion Hurdle odds slashed to 14-1 from 25s by Betfair, who also shortened up impressive Christmas Hurdle winner Epatante to 5-2 from 7-2.
A brilliant finish sees Sharjah take the Matheson Hurdle at #Leopardstown #RTERacing pic.twitter.com/aT7TS09GBv
— RTÉ Racing (@RTEracing) December 29, 2019
