Jasmin De Vaux goes for Champion Bumper double as three of first four from Cheltenham clash again

Facile Vega landed the Champion Bumper double for Willie Mullins in 2022, and Jasmin De Vaux will bid to emulate his stablemate in a particularly competitive running of this Grade 1, with three of the first four home at Cheltenham clashing again.

Jasmin De Vaux powered home to collar Romeo Coolio at the festival in March, confirming the promise he had shown on his debut when running out a hugely impressive winner of a Naas bumper over 2m2½f.

Both of those successes came on quite testing ground and, having scored over two furlongs longer than this 2m½f trip, the five-year-old is clearly a strong stayer. Quicker ground and going right-handed here presents a new challenge, however.

Romeo Coolio has plenty of pace given his high cruising speed, and it was a huge run behind Jasmin De Vaux at Cheltenham, especially as his debut victory at Fairyhouse came in a slowly run affair when he was quite keen throughout. He is open to more progress and has sound claims of reversing the form.

Barry Connell decided to swerve Cheltenham with William Munny, who showed an electric turn of foot to run out an impressive winner of a Naas bumper in February. Given they went a very sedate pace early on in that contest, it was to his credit that he managed to pull five lengths clear of his rivals in the last half-furlong.

Although the form hasn't been well advertised, William Munny looked special at Naas and it may be worth chancing he can prove a cut above those who ran at Cheltenham.

The Emmet Mullins-trained Harbour Highway was an impressive winner at Navan when beating the promising Mywayofthinkin. The five-year-old has been snapped up by JP McManus since and should feature prominently, while Shuttle Diplomacy is another contender putting an unbeaten record on the line.

The Tom Cooper-trained four-year-old earned his place here by landing a Listed bumper at Limerick by seven and a half lengths. He showed plenty of speed that day so better ground could see him take another step forward.

Of the outsiders, The Yellow Clay could be an interesting each-way play for Gordon Elliott. He shaped promisingly at Leopardstown when fourth behind Jeroboam Machin after ten months off, and acquitted himself well when sixth in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.

What they say

Willie Mullins, trainer of Argento Boy, Jasmin De Vaux, My Great Mate, Redemption Day and Sounds Victorius
Argento Boy disappointed in Cheltenham where the occasion might have got to him. If Pat Taaffe can keep him settled and focused on racing, he could run well. My Great Mate needs a career-best to feature in the finish here, but he's a winner on the track in October and I'd imagine he’d prefer drying ground. Jasmin De Vaux had a tough race at Cheltenham but would have every chance again and is doing everything right at home. Redemption Day has good previous form in this race, finishing second to Facile Vega two years ago. He’s coming back to that sort of form and is in there with a good shout. Sounds Victorious won his bumper around here and has improved steadily the whole season. He ran a very good race to finish fourth behind Jasmin De Vaux at Cheltenham and is on an upward curve. If he continues improving at his current rate, he can hopefully finish in the first three. You Oughta Know has good form but most of it is on better ground. If it rides good-ish today, he has every chance of hitting the frame. 

Emmet Mullins, trainer of Harbour Highway
It's a big step up, but he's thrived since he won at Navan. We liked him going there and he did the job nicely. He's put on weight since then and I couldn't be happier with him. It was always the plan to come to Punchestown and we've had no hiccups in the lead up to the race. 

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Romeo Coolio and The Yellow Clay
We've loved Romeo Coolio from day one. He ran really well in the Champion Bumper given his inexperience and this has been the plan since. The Yellow Clay has a bright future and I wouldn't rule him out.

Barry Connell, trainer of William Munny
He's in good form and we gave him a break for a month as he wasn't going to Cheltenham. We brought him back in and freshened him up and he did his last bit of work on Saturday morning. I don't think better ground will be an issue. They went slow at Naas and he was in Finny Maguire's hands a bit, but I was amazed with the speed he showed. You need a bit of tactical speed around here, which he has, so I think he has the ideal profile for the race.

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