Bolger back in the groove as Garde Champetre is crowned king of the banks

GARDE CHAMPETRE turned his nose up at the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday but back on his favourite cross-country terrain he resumed normal service for the Enda Bolger team in the famous La Touche Cup. Last year Oh Jackie was a 25 to 1 disruption to a streak of 10 straight wins in the race for Bolger but the “banks king” was back on form as Garde Champetre defied 12st 7lb under Nina Carberry to beat the former Grand National hero, Silver Birch, by two lengths.

It also proved a timely boost for owner JP McManus who watched at home as he continues his recovery from prostate cancer.

“This is a great lift for everyone. JP’s been my biggest supporter and I’m sure the party will be on at Martinstown tonight,” Bolger said. “I thought about three out we might be in trouble but his class came into play.”

Carberry was maintaining her own unbeaten record on Garde Champetre over the cross-country courses at Punchestown and Cheltenham. “This horse likes to fill his lungs which he didn’t get a chance to do in the Grand National but this course suits him perfectly,” she said.

A change of scenery seems to have rekindled Blueberry Boy’s enthusiasm for work as the Paul Stafford-trained horse defied 16 to 1 odds to land the two-mile handicap chase. “I can only put it down to the new facilities (in Bellewstown) which are great,” said Stafford.

Punchestown’s crowd figures continued to dip yesterday with a 16,193 attendance the lowest of the week so far and over a thousand down on the corresponding figure last year. It followed a Wednesday crowd figure of 16,246 which was down over four thousand.

Betting figures were also on the slide. Yesterday’s Tote turnover of €619,269 dropped from last year’s €898,967 while the bookmaker figure of €1,993,179 dropped almost €800,000 on last year.

Wednesday’s Tote figure of €718,123 dropped over €400,000 on the corresponding 2008 figure. The bookmaker tally of just over €2 million was down €700,000.