Cheltenham Festival: Lecky Watson Springs Surprise with Brown Advisory Triumph as Ballyburn disappoints | Racing news

Lecky Watson was a slightly unexpected winner of Willie Mullins, a trained chase for a brown counseling recruitment in Cheltenham, because his better stable stabs failed.

The chestnut was a 20-1 shot under Sean O’Keeffe, and Mullins is also responsible for Ballyburn, Quai de Bourbon and Dancing City in a festive field of seven.

Ballyburn was a 4-7 favorite, but the mistake in the jump was paid by the chances, and in the end Lecky Watson took the opportunity and remained in the best place to turn the star of Gordon Elliotta to four in length.

From the winner, Mullins said: “He has been training all season, and we just told Sean to take him a little wider and hold on without a problem. He kept it very simple and it was a great ride.

“Before that, he did not cross three miles this season, but it was no plan. It was just the case to pull them out and throw them out. We always thought he would be a horse of endurance.

“We had a good team of horses there and I would probably put it in a quarter of our team. I thought Dancing City was traveling well until he was wrong and I thought Quai de Bourbon had started really well when he eliminated his rider.

“I didn’t plan it (Gold Cup Ruta), but now we’ll have to go that way. It’s amazing because you have to come to the races and show up and find out. You can have all the dreams you want at home, but it will tell you what they really are worth, and this guy obviously improves all the time.

“Everyone is beautiful horses looking forward to next season.”

From the victory of his favorite Ballyburn, he said, “He wasn’t early – he didn’t travel in my head, and then he made a bad mistake. The game was early for him, I thought.

“Maybe I would get back on the trip with him and maybe use him more. I don’t think he enjoyed being put on the seat there and they weren’t fast enough for him.”

O’Keeffe had previously driven two winners of the Mullins Festival, including Galopin Des Champs at Martin Pipe 2021.

Mullins added: “Sean enters and drives most of the day, has a lot of horses to visit and would be the third or fourth jockey and driving his share of the winner every year.

“He is a very calm, underrated rider, but he has done his job and is very good about the fence.

“It’s hard to get the winners here – it’s very difficult to ride in Cheltenham, it has nothing to do with the winners – so I’m delighted for him.”

Elliott, who also obsessed with the third place set better in advance, said: “I was hoping that Stellar Story could do what he did last year (in Albert Bartlett) and in both horses launched really good races – the winner just continued.

“We have no excuse, the winner was good and he won well. We are pleased with both of ours.

“The better days ahead can be a horse for an Irish nationality, while Stellar Story could be for Puchown.”