Fountain House survives scare in Bishopscourt Cup

Image © Healy Racing

Fountain House overcame a serious early blunder as he went one place better than his second at last year’s festival to claim the Stanley Asphalt Bishopscourt Cup on day four of the Punchestown Festival.

Sent off as an odds-on favourite having won five of his six starts this season, including twice in open company at Lingstown and most recently in Dromahane, the seven-year-old was settled in mid-division through the early stages.

However, his supporters had a notable scare when he made a notable error at the third fence, which saw his regular rider Eoin Mahon lose his iron, and whilst the Galway rider attempted to regain his footing on the run-in with a circuit to go, he was shuffled all the way back to the rear of the field.

That left him with plenty of ground to make up as his stablemate, the recent Cork scorer, Eyes Off Annie, took up the running heading out on the final circuit, from where she began to drive on the pace.

A good jump three-out brought Fountain House into a challenging position, and it was the Ian McCarthy-trained pair who led the field into the straight.

Eyes Off Annie gave way in the closing stages, as it was Squire Ohara, a maiden winner on Easter Monday at Loughanmore, who came through to chase Fountain House home.

The three-and-a-quarter-length victory saw the completion of a plan which has long been in the making since Fountain House had chased home Knockiel Syne in the Ladies Cup 12 months earlier.

“We were second to Peter Flood’s horse in the Ladies Cup last, so we said we would come back as we come under the Kildare Hunt, so it qualified us for this.

“He is a horse that we have had great enjoyment out of, he wasn’t overly dear, and as a family, we have had great enjoyment out of this. It’s some buzz – unreal. I have never been as nervous, but it is brilliant.

“I genuinely think that he has a decent level of ability. I said to Eoin after he won his first race at the start of the year in Loughrea that I don’t know where he is going to take us but we will enjoy it as it comes.

“He is going to keep stepping up, we will look forward to next year. He has loads of options, there are hunter chases coming up in the next couple of months, and there is Stratford too, so we will play it by ear.”