First for O'Connor and 10th for Mullins as Kilcruit cruises to Champion Bumper

It is hard to believe that Derek O’Connor almost found himself stuck without a ride in the Grade 1 Champion Bumper.

In Kilcruit, Willie Mullins provided the legendary amateur with the solvent to set himself free from the fact that he’d never won the race in the past, and what style the breakthrough win was achieved in.

It may have been a notable first for O’Connor but not Mullins. Like his favourite seat in the Lord Bagenal, the Champion Bumper has had the ‘reserved for’ sign on it for Mullins in recent times, with Kilcruit cementing the champion trainer’s tenth victory in the race.

Strange to say there was an element of surprise about the win achieved with Kilcruit, who was returned an 11-8 shot, but Cheltenham scorer Sir Gerhard was the one the market wanted as a 5-6 favourite – but he could manage only third.

“David Casey rang on the morning of declarations and it was a great surprise to get,” O’Connor said afterwards.

“That's the most prestigious race. The Champion Bumper is the race that every amateur wants to win. It has taken me a long time but it's great to finally do it,” he added.

One of the greatest amateurs to ever pull on a pair of boots, O’Connor was securing the second top-level triumph of his career, with the other Grade 1 success coming aboard Edwulf in the Irish Gold Cup.

Summing up the performance, O’Connor said: “It was a beautiful race to ride. It was a good, strong pace and there was loads of room. I was riding a good stayer and I was glad to sit up with the leaders and take it up when I did. He kept galloping and he's a good horse.”

Harrington double

There will be some people who refuse to believe this, but Jessica Harrington is human after all. Her achievements in racing may be bordering on the supernatural but, in forgetting to fill out her Covid questionnaire in order to be granted access to Punchestown on Wednesday, she confirmed as much.

It proved to be the only blunder for team Harrington on the day. In the trainer’s absence, the stable left one of their happiest hunting grounds with a double thanks to the successes of Guiri and Lifetime Ambition.

The latter couldn’t have been more impressive in making light work of his rivals in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel Hurdle. Connections of Lifetime Ambition have had to be patient, given he couldn’t buy a win all winter, but he looks worth the wait after Wednesday’s bloodless success.

Jockey Robbie Power said: “He’s still a big horse and he has probably been developing all winter. We went a good gallop but I felt like we were hacking – he has such a high cruising speed. He’s going to be a lovely horse to look forward to over fences with the way he jumps.”

The first leg of the double was achieved in the opener when the JP McManus-owned Guiri tanked through the Adare Manor Opportunity Series Final and won snugly.

Kate Harrington, deputising for her mother, said: “The bit of nice ground brought about improvement plus the cheekpieces and a step up in trip. We couldn’t be happier with him and it’s nice to win the Adare Manor for JP.”

Fahey's festival hat-trick

The fur on the rabbit’s foot Peter Fahey has been carrying in his pocket for luck is worn enough to suggest there is nothing lucky about the big-race winners he continues to churn out from his base in Monasterevin, County Kildare.

Peter Fahey: 'It’s the icing on the cake to have a winner at the Punchestown festival'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Suprise Package followed on from the Cheltenham-Aintree double with Belfast Banter by running out an impressive winner of the Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series Final under Darragh O’Keeffe.

Fahey said: “We were thinking after Cheltenham that we couldn’t possibly win again at Aintree and it’s the icing on the cake to have a winner at the Punchestown festival now as well.”

On Suprise Package, the trainer added: “He was knocking around running okay in maiden hurdles and I rang Sandy Shaw (the handicapper) to see what sort of mark he was thinking for him.

“I was thinking it was going to be a lot less than what he roughly thought, so we said we’d take a chance in this as it’s a great pot.

“We bought him after he wasn’t sold in one of the point-to-point sales. He ran in a point-to-point on goodish ground and is a summer horse for Paul Leech. He’s just kept improving and will be a lovely horse for the summer.”

Results, replays and analysis

Read more from Punchestown:

'The stuff of dreams' – Clan Des Obeaux upsets the Irish in Punchestown Gold Cup

Tables turned as Paul Nicholls and team are rewarded for bold move

'He just looked fantastic' – Galopin Des Champs gallops rivals into submission

For all our exclusive free bet offers and must-have daily promotions click the free bets button or go to racingpost.com/freebets