'He's one tough horse' - Dancing City completes Aintree-Punchestown double with gritty victory

Once upon a time Dancing City was beaten at 1-5 on his debut for Willie Mullins in a Wexford bumper. Fast-forward two years and he's now a three-time Grade 1 winner, as he backed up his Aintree success in the Sefton Novices' Hurdle with a gritty victory here over a resurgent High Class Hero.

Dancing City has been to all the big dances this spring; successful at the Dublin Racing Festival, third in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham and victorious at Aintree, he has now had four bruising battles in the space of 88 days and won three of them. 

Paul Townend feared Aintree might have bottomed him out, but Dancing City is a tough cookie and seems to thrive on racing. 

Townend, who edged within five of Jack Kennedy in the title race with this victory, said: "He's very deceiving. I was actually going to ride another horse [Readin Tommy Wrong] over him at Aintree, but he got withdrawn on the day. It's funny how things work out.  

"I thought I bottomed him at Aintree. We came up the straight pretty slow. But he's bounced out of it well. He's one tough horse and he's a good horse. I was afraid Aintree would leave a mark on him, but I couldn't leave him behind and ride something else, at the same time."

Connections are all smiles after Dancing City's successCredit: Patrick McCann

It's lucky he didn't, because he would have been kicking himself afterwards. That said, High Class Hero returned to the sort of form that saw him rack up a big sequence last summer into the autumn. He put it up to Dancing City, but could not get by. 

Gordon Elliott's pair of Cheltenham winners could finish only third and fourth, with Martin Pipe winner Better Days Ahead coming home in front of Albert Bartlett victor Stellar Story, who made much of the running. 

Novice chasing is on the agenda for Dancing City next season according to Willie Mullins and Betfair and Paddy Power cut him to 10-1 (from 14) for the 2025 Brown Advisory at Cheltenham. 

Mullins said: "It just shows how tough he is that he’s been to every racing festival, it takes a lot of doing. It all bodes well for the future going over fences.

"He did quite well coming back from Aintree. We haven’t done that before – Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown. It looks achievable so we might do more of it in the future. He didn’t show how good he was until we went out in trip."

The further he goes, the better Dancing City seems to be and he looks sure to rank among the top staying novice chasers next season.

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