English/Ire
Dinoblue downs Mares’ Chase rivals once more
JP McManus’ Dinoblue stamped her authority on the mares chase division once again with a commanding success in the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Steeple Chase at Cheltenham.
Runner-up in 2024 and winner of the contest twelve months ago, Dinoblue was sent off the 6/5 market leader in the hands of Mark Walsh and following an exemplary round of jumping, she galloped on strongly to keep Only By Night at arms lengths up the run-in.
Dan Skelton's Panic Attack finished nine and a half lengths away in third.
Mullins said: "One thing Mark said when he got off was that her jumping today was magical, especially over the last ditch.
"She just jumped it so well, she got into the race - I think she was third going into it - and then she was just competitive.
"He was wondering if he had gone too early, but she took the bull by the horns herself, so what could he do? She got that extra length or two, and he said he just had to hope she would jump, and she was foot-perfect from there on.
"She's a lovely mare. They're a good match, Mark and Dinoblue, so what more can we say? Her jumping was extraordinary, and if you had a horse which jumped like that every day of the week, it would make this game very easy."
The Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old has now won twelve of her 24 starts under Rules, while the defense of her Mares' Chase title also moves her just shy of £500,000 in career earnings.
Earlier on the card, the training partnership of Jonjo and AJ O'Neill claimed their second winner at The Festival in 2026 when Wilful (14-1) came home the comfortable three-length winner of the William Hill County Handicap Hurdle.
Always well-positioned throughout under Jonjo's other son Jonjo O'Neill Jr, Wilful picked up nicely when asked for an effort before drawing clear in good style.
Jonjo O'Neill Jr said: "It's been a really great place for me, but to do it for your family is extra special.
"There was no one more delighted than me to see Richie [McLernon] winning on Tuesday; it's so hard to win here. You saw it with Henry de Bromhead and Gordon Elliott yesterday - it doesn't matter how much ammunition you've got, it's so hard. This was my best chance of the week, and I did really fancy him.
"We were going to run in the Kingwell to see if he was up to that, but it was heavy ground again and we thought for a spring campaign that wasn't the right thing to do.
"We also thought there was probably a bit of mileage in his mark. I didn't think he'd improve as much as he did today - maybe we should have left him in the Champion Hurdle, but we'll take a County!"
Check out our FREE full form, ratings for meetings in nine countries each and every day.