Kopek Des Bordes suffers shock Punchestown defeat

Kopek Des Bordes’ surrendered his unbeaten record as stablemate Irancy led home a one-two-three-four for Willie Mullins in the KPMG Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

Kopek Des Bordes looked a star in the making after following up successive victories Leopardstown with an odds-on success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham last month and he was a 30-100 market leader to round off a perfect season with another win in County Kildare.

However, a couple of sketchy leaps during the early stages set the tone for a disappointing display and he was a spent force turning for home.

Having been ridden more conservatively, 18-1 shot Irancy arrived on the scene travelling strongly under Mark Walsh and powered clear from the final flight to score by nine lengths, with the front-running Salvator Mundi boxing on to beat Karbau to third and Kopek Des Bordes a well-beaten fourth.

Mullins said: “We took all the gear off Salvator Mundi today and it worked as far as his jumping was concerned, but he just got running too fast and they couldn’t keep that up. Paul, knowing how good Salvator Mundi is, couldn’t let him go.

“Irancy has always been a good horse and met with a setback after winning here earlier in the season, but it might have been the best thing to have happened as he came here fresh.

“I gave Kopek Des Bordes a nice break after Cheltenham and probably gave him too much and should have brought him to somewhere like Ayr or Perth!

“Looking at him in the parade ring, I thought he was carrying too much condition and that showed at today’s pace.”