Galopin Des Champs blitzes Leopardstown field to lay down Gold Cup marker for jubilant Willie Mullins
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Paul Townend is a master of understatement but, on this occasion, his eyes and beaming smile told you his true feelings. ‘That was good, wasn’t it?’ Ireland’s leading rider asked, as he made his way back into the winner’s enclosure here at Leopardstown. Soon he would be hit by a wall of sound from the crowd, who stood 10-deep trying to get a glimpse of Galopin Des Champs.
![[Trainer Willie Mullins (left) said the victory was 'huge' and described the gelding as a saint]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/22/93547183-14232699-image-a-75_1735425350576.jpg)
This was better than good. Christmas has been wonderful for racing, thanks to the exploits of Constitution Hill, Sir Gino and Townend’s King George winner Banbridge, but this was a new peak, an awesome, brutal display of galloping and pinpoint jumping.
![[It's another win for jockey Paul Townend just 48 hours after his victory on board Banbridge]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/22/93547201-14232699-image-m-77_1735425465932.jpg)
Such was the quality of Galopin Des Champs’s display in the Grade One Savills Chase that his trainer Willie Mullins felt compelled to label it as the finest exhibit in a body of work that, do not forget, includes the last two renewals of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Mullins talks in hushed tones and would not be one for saying something to get a cheap headline. He would not necessarily be one for a public display of emotion, either, but as the cheers continued you could see how much this all meant to him. ‘Even I was going “wow”, which I really don’t do much,’ Mullins said. ‘It was fantastic, particularly knowing the calibre of horse that was behind him.
Galopin Des Champs romps to an eye-catching victory at Leopardstown. Trainer Willie Mullins (left) said the victory was 'huge' and described the gelding as a saint. It's another win for jockey Paul Townend just 48 hours after his victory on board Banbridge.
