Appreciate It stamped his authority on the two-mile novice hurdle division in on uncertain terms as he ran out the impressive winner of the Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle on day two of the Dublin Racing Festival.
Having bumped into none other than Envoi Allen on his point-to-point debut at Ballinaboola when with Pat Doyle, the Jeremy gelding did ultimately open his encounter for Doyle’s Suirview Stables at Dromahane and has since gone on to hit real heights since joining the Willie Mullins team.
A Grade 2 winner of the Future Stars Bumper at the 2020 Dublin Racing Festival, the now seven-year-old returned to Leopardstown off the back of his first Grade 1 success over Christmas which saw him sent off as the odds-on favourite.
Paul Townend kept the tactics simple as the pair held an inside berth at the head of affairs and despite getting in close to the penultimate flight, he picked up very strongly in the home straight as fellow point-to-point graduate Ballyadam loomed as a threat.
Ballyadam, a Grade 1 winner on his own right ultimately crossed the line some three and a quarter lengths behind in the €125,000 two-mile contest.
Unsurprisingly following the success, Appreciate It was shortened in the betting for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle as he looks to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner Shishkin, another recruit from the Irish point-to-point fields.
