Global Citizen complete a second consecutive hat-trick for Irish point-to-pointers at this year’s Cheltenham Festival as he took the Grade 3 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase by three lengths from fellow pointer Andy Dufresne.
The deteriorating conditions ensured this was another war of attrition, but Global Citizen was not for catching on what was his first run over fences since December 2020.
The now ten-year-old had started his career by winning a five-year-old maiden at Bellurgan Park for Willie Murphy when owned by his breeder Martin Byrne.
Winning trainer Ben Pauling said: “It doesn’t get better than having a Festival winner. We always kept faith in the horse when a lot of people had written him off, and he’s come back to himself. That was pretty much perfect.
“The track suited him brilliantly and although I thought at the top of the hill that he was running on fumes he filled himself up again and went for home. The difference from the last two runs is that he’s stayed on all the way to the line. It was a great ride from Kielan, who has won this race twice now.
“We were always going to try and come here and I thought that chucking him over a fence would mix it up a bit and bring him to life. He jumped brilliantly on ground I thought he’d hate. Maybe he likes it after all. I’m chuffed to pieces.
“We are moving to a new yard the week after Aintree and it’s great to go out on a Festival winner. We’ve only brought three runners, and if one goes in you are happy. He was our first, so we’ve still got two to go.”
👏 Global Citizen wins the Grand Annual Chase for @kielanwoods & @benpauling1
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 16, 2022
Andy Dufresne can't get punters out of jail as Global Citizen produces a brilliant round of jumping to score at 28/1 @CheltenhamRaces #TheFestival pic.twitter.com/n7a28O2aER
