Thunder enters record books

Risk Of Thunder entered the record books at Punchestown yesterday, and Nicky Henderson and Mick Fitzgerald proved yet again they seem to thrive on the Kildare air when winning with Tiutchev. But there was no doubt that Topacio provided the day's biggest splash - and for the Galway GAA at that.

The Pat Hughes-trained horse picked up the £43,400 first prize by beating Lord Brex in the IAWS Champion Hurdle but even that is only an instalment on the investment made by Topacio's owners, the Pearse Racing Club.

"This is as good as any All-Ireland," declared the 1980 All-Ireland hurling final-winning captain Joe Connolly whose idea the club is. And the idea is to sell shares at £5,000 a pop in order to raise £5 million to raise a 35,000 capacity GAA stadium in Galway.

"This is unbelievable for us," grinned Cooney. Charlie Swan, riding his first winner since Joe Cullen at Cheltenham, was also pleasantly surprised at how well Topacio had handled the ground; while Hughes just smiled: "Thank God they watered the track."

Enda Bolger, in contrast, was in the happy position of knowing the faster the ground the better for the remarkable Risk Of Thunder, and the Sean Connery-owned veteran entered the record books when winning the La Touche Cup over the banks for a historic sixth time in a row. The last horse to achieve the same in any race was the legendary English stayer, Brown Jack, back in 1934.

"He's like Ole Man River," said a clearly proud Bolger who reunited rider Ken Whelan with the horse he won on four times previously. The Marlborough Cup in 23 days time is next for Risk Of Thunder, while a later option is a race at Creon, France in September.

Tiutchev is a definite Champion Chase contender for next season after defeating Frozen Groom in the Swordlestown Chase. Nicky Henderson said: "He probably wasn't as sharp as he was at Cheltenham but that was a bloody good race between those two." He also conceded: "I asked them to water and they do everything to help us here."

Henderson and Fitzgerald were out of luck with Bacchanal, fourth behind Rubhahunish in the Ballymore Stayers Hurdle; and another English winner was Wave Rock, who gave trainer Philip Hobbs his second success of the festival and Tony McCoy a winner on his 26th birthday.

But Dovaly's victory in the Castlemartin Chase emphasised how quick the Punchestown ground is. Dovaly was well backed in the morning and trainer Michael O'Brien quipped: "If you spit on the ground, he can't handle it!"

The executive reported a crowd figure yesterday of 25,200. The attendance created a bookmaker turnover of £1,857,372. There was also a track record Tote figure of £640,447.