Thyestes Chase: 'A huge performance' - Mullins hails Townend after Carefully Selected lands thriller

After spending a couple of days on his sickbed, Paul Townend gave Carefully Selected a winning ride described by trainer Willie Mullins as one of the best he had ever seen in the Thyestes Chase. 

After tracking the pace early, Townend made a conscious decision to chart the widest path possible from early on the final circuit. The ground he forfeited around the bends in the latter stages of the race was considerable, as was the momentum lost from a couple of mistakes at crucial times, but he got Carefully Selected to the front before the second-last and then had to be at his strongest to repel the persistent challenge of the Gordon Elliott-trained Dunboyne under Sam Ewing. It was a case of heads up, heads down, but Carefully Selected had his nose in front where it mattered, even if half a stride later he would have lost out.

It was Carefully Selected's second run back from an absence of more than 30 months and Paddy Power introduced him at 20-1 for the Grand National. For Mullins it was a ninth win in the race, all achieved since 2000, and one that gave him a deal of satisfaction given Townend's ride and the fact the winner had been on the easy list for so long. 

He said: “I think Paul had two horses behind him with a circuit to go, he went wide and kept out of trouble, and to give him a ride like that puts huge pressure on a jockey, but he loves pressure and rides better for pressure. He has been sick the last two days and to come back and give a ride like that is a tremendous achievement.

Paul Townend celebrates his Thyestes successCredit: Patrick McCann

“The horse gave a huge performance, considering he had been off for so long and we were coming back quick enough after his last run, but Paul had ridden him work the other day and he knew what was under the bonnet. I'm very pleased for his owner Michael Masterson, who is having a very good year and will be disappointed that he can't be here today. We'll have to consider all of those good staying handicap chases for him now.”

Townend, whose ride was reminiscent of Willie Carson bringing Bahri to victory from under the trees at Ascot in the 1995 QEII Stakes, said: “It's another incredible training effort from Willie. Carefully Selected ran up a sequence over fences a while back and he still has that little bit of class.

“He got a bit idle with me down the straight and I just gave him a little bit of a flick. He came alive then and I thought I might have played my hand too soon, but he was tough and game and pulled out loads. They started and stopped and I was caught out wide a little bit, so I ignored them and tried to keep a similar rhythm going. He enjoyed that I think.”

Spare a thought for Gordon Elliott though. Not only was Dunboyne nabbed on the line, but he also saddled the staying-on third Pencilfulloflead and the fourth home Coko Beach, winner of the race in 2021. 

He said: “All the horses ran well with no excuses. You would prefer to be beaten a length than a nose but Dunboyne ran a great race and Sam gave him a great ride. The horse jumped and travelled and did everything right. Pencilfulloflead ran very well and you would like to think that he could be a Grand National horse.”

Read these next:

Galmoy Hurdle: Teahupoo storms to top of Stayers' Hurdle market after easy Grade 2 success 

Gowran Park: Sir Gerhard wins comfortably on chase debut - but Cheltenham odds unchanged 

Members' Club special offer: get exclusive tips and insight FREE for one month 

Sign up to receive The Ante-Postman, Robbie Wilders' top weekly newsletter. Get weekend tips, festival fancies and big-race selections delivered straight to your inbox.