Djakadam handed Willie Mullins a record sixth win in the Goffs Thyestes Handicap Chase at Gowran Park to seal a Gold Cup place.
The six-year-old’s hopes of featuring in March’s blue riband event at Cheltenham were hindered when he finished eighth in the Hennessy Gold Cup on his first run of the season.
There were suggestions of poor stamina, but Mullins claimed it was just down to a lack of fitness and his faith was repaid as Djakadam was in imperious form to hand the yard a third winner in four years after On His Own’s successes in 2012 and 2014.
Mullins told Sky Sports: “It’s fantastic to win the race six times. Tom Dreaper held the record and it’s an honour to be mentioned in the same breath as him. It took me long enough to win my first one. On His Own won this off top weight and was only just beaten in a Gold Cup, so we’ll have to think of going the same way with this horse.
“We always thought he could be a Gold Cup horse. It was probably an unfair question to ask him in the Hennessy on his first run of the season, but we felt he was nicely handicapped. Because of the dry autumn I was afraid to work him. Because of his weight I took the gamble. I gave him plenty of time to recover and this was the obvious choice.
“That race will take a fair bit out of him so he wouldn’t run between now and Cheltenham. Whether he’s strong enough this year I don’t know, but he’s certainly that type of individual.”
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