Apache Stronghold proves worth going on for at Leopardstown

Legend has it that a reason can often be a superfluous consideration when Paul Carberry wants to celebrate, but Apache Stronghold provided a perfect excuse with an exciting Grade 1 triumph at Leopardstown the day before the former champion jockey's 41st birthday.

The weekend focus was inevitably trained on Carberry's old contemporary at the Jim Bolger academy, Tony McCoy, but while statistical evidence of McCoy's incomparable drive abounds, when it comes to artistic impression, Carberry has always been a man apart.

Rare is the Carberry contemporary who doesn’t acknowledge an even rarer natural talent, which saw him return to action after yet another injury layoff at Naas on Saturday with a winner and then a Flogas Novice Chase success that had him looking as if he’d never been away.

Even a mistake down the back of a fiercely run race couldn’t prevent Carberry producing Apache Stronghold with perfectly timed aplomb to fight off his old rival Valseur Lido by half a length and earn 8-1 quotes for Cheltenham’s JLT Novice Chase.

“He was racing a bit dead down the back, struggling with the pace which is not like him, so I had to sit and wait for him to come alive,” Carberry said, unconsciously revealing the ice-cool horsemanship behind his remarkable longevity.

Horsemanship

Trainer Noel Meade has been one of the greatest fans of that horsemanship and, revelling in a Grade 1 success just ahead of his upcoming wedding, he again acknowledged the mercurial talent on Apache Stronghold’s back.

“He’s 41, and had a lot of bangs,” he said of Carberry. “He’s like china: when he hits the ground, he breaks very easy! But he’s a great tactical jockey and he’s brilliant in a race like that.”

McCoy may be retiring soon, but the older man, Carberry, gives no indication of following suit any time soon, especially with Apache Stronghold to look forward to. "This is our big hope," Carberry said. "When he won in Navan [November 2013], I thought he'd keep me going for a Gold Cup some day, so he's worth going on for."

The standards set by Willie Mullins meant a hat-trick on the day, which included a pair of Grade 1 victories for Nichols Canyon and Petite Parisienne, seemed almost ho-hum considering what else was going on.

However, both victories cemented the view that the champion trainer will travel to Cheltenham next month with an unprecedented strength in depth.

One-two

Petite Parisienne beat his stable companion Kalkir in a Mullins one-two in the Gala Spring Juvenile Hurdle and both will be joined in the Triumph Hurdle by another major player, Dicosomo. But the novice ammunition at Closutton means that even an impressive Deloitte Novice Hurdle can’t nail Nichols Canyon down to a specific festival target just yet.

“He has the speed for the Supreme, we have plenty of horses for the Albert Bartlett, so I would imagine we will look at the Neptune,” Mullins said.

Nicholls Canyon is as low as 6-1 for the Neptune after repelling his highly rated stable companion Alviso Ville, who faded to third. “Alvisio Ville has a lot to learn about racing and was up against a professional racehorse who jumps and stays,” Mullins said. “You might get away with running a maiden winner in a Grade 1 in the autumn, but he was facing handicappers there.”

Prince De Beauchene brought up the hat-trick in the hunters' chase, beating off On the Fringe in a close finish under Patrick Mullins. "He'll go to Fairyhouse. He's not qualified for across the water [Cheltenham]. Patrick said he wasn't in love with it today. Maybe it's getting a bit dry. Hopefully he stays right until Fairyhouse," Willie Mullins said.

Potters Point was fancied to make it four for Closutton in the bumper, but another Gigginstown stud hope, Archive, was too strong in the finish.