Marie's Rock hunted down the gallant Stormy Ireland to provide Nicky Henderson with yet another Punchestown Festival winner in the Grade 1 Coolmore Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle.
Henderson is no stranger to Punchestown success and made sure he didn’t leave empty-handed as Marie’s Rock completed a Cheltenham/Punchestown double by running out a one-and-a-quarter-length winner over Stormy Ireland and Danny Mullins, as 2020 Champion Hurdle winner Epatante was back in third.
Marie’s Rock and Nico de Boinville enjoyed a warm welcome to the Punchestown winners' enclosure with a large number of the Middleham Park Racing Syndicate in attendance to cheer on the seven-year-old who has catapulted through the ranks this season.
Henderson, who also saddled Epatante, said afterwards: "It’s always good to be here and we love it so it’s nice to come away with a prize like that. I wasn’t really sure (how it would go).
"They’re two good fillies. Probably stamina was the strength of the winner and Epatante, they set off to set a gallop.
"I think it was there to test Epatante’s stamina, which has probably played into Marie’s Rock’s hands a little bit. She wouldn’t have Epatante’s pace but she would probably have a fair bit more (stamina).
"She’d won the Mares’ Grade 1 in Cheltenham so she was entitled to be here. We decided to come here with Epatante as well because she proved she stayed at Aintree so it was the obvious thing for her to do rather than take on Honeysuckle.
Marie's Rock denies Stormy Ireland the perfect ending with a late burst to claim the Coolmore Kew Gardens Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.
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"You felt rather sorry for the Marie’s Rock team that I was having to throw a multiple Grade 1 winner into the pot as well, but as it turned out, it was the other way around. That’s the game, especially at this time of year. You don’t always get exactly what you expect.
"They do quite a lot of work together because they suit each other. I got a slightly different when they worked (the other day), I must admit! But there you go. It’s not always about what you see every morning."
Earlier on the day, Peaches And Cream blitzed his rivals in the Colm Quinn BMW Handicap Chase for Gavin Cromwell and Sean Flanagan, while the opening Dooley Insurance Cross Country Chase went the way of Hurricane Darwin on his first start for trainer Cormac Farrell.
The Palmerstown House Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase over 3m7f, went the way of Donkey Years in the hands of local jockey Mark Walsh for trainer Eric McNamara and owner JP McManus.
