'Awesome' Ferny Hollow given 6-4 Arkle quote after Grade 1 novice win

Sunday: Leopardstown

He has already beaten Bob Olinger and Appreciate It, but perhaps giving 13lb and a beating to the exciting mare Riviere D'Etel was Ferny Hollow's best display.

It even prompted Willie Mullins, who is not a huge fan of hyperbole, to opt for the seldom-used "awesome" to describe the performance.

He was impressed and so too were the layers, many of whom make him just 6-4 for the Arkle next March.

We were deprived of seeing Ferny Hollow for 380 days after he beat Bob Olinger at Gowran Park, but he seems hell-bent on making up for lost time.

Here he beat Riviere D'Etel at her own game. He made all and never made a mistake. It was hard to find fault with anything he did and Mullins waxed lyrical, saying: "I thought it was a huge performance to give that weight to a filly that no one has got close to all season.

"Coming back after an 11-month break with only a three-week gap, I was worried all week that I was asking him too much to come back too soon.

Willie Mullins: 'He loves jumping and has obviously got an engine'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"We could have waited another few weeks and gone to Punchestown. Everything was against him and he still pulled it out of the bag. I thought it was an awesome performance."

The good news is that we are likely to see him again before Cheltenham as Mullins is likely to bring him back to Leopardstown in early February.

He said: "He loves jumping and has obviously got an engine. We’ll probably come back here for the Dublin Racing Festival and then the spring festivals."

It was nine years since Paul Townend last won this Grade 1 on Arvika Ligeonniere and he certainly enjoyed his third victory in the race.

The four-time champion said: "We went a proper gallop and he never missed a beat. It’s a long way up the straight with no last fence, but when I did give him a smack he pulled out plenty.

"I schooled him the other morning and he’s electric to jump. I wasn’t going to give away that advantage and get into a row with him, so I left him at it.

"It's nice to know he can go long and short in terms of his jumping. He rubbed a a couple of fences early at Punchestown and it probably was no harm because as the race developed there he was very good. He has a bit of respect for them."

Gordon Elliott: 'She's run a cracker and I'm delighted with her'Credit: Edward Whitaker

We have lots of respect for Ferny Hollow too and you sense it will take something special to beat him in March. Coral went 6-4 favourite from 2-1 for the Sporting Life Arkle, although BoyleSports left him unchanged at 7-4.

This was only the third time we have seen Ferny Hollow since he sprinted by Appreciate It in the 2020 Weatherbys Champion Bumper, and everything he has done in those three starts suggests he is top class.

Gordon Elliott thought as much too and paid tribute to the gutsy display of Riviere D'Etel, who made him fight every step of the way.

"She's run a cracker and I'm delighted with her," he said. "The winner is a very, very good horse."

You can say that again.

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