Willie Mullins didn’t have to worry about the challenges of Samcro and Supasundae for his old boy Faugheen's attempt at retaining the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown this afternoon but it was to be his other runner in the race, the Paul Townend-ridden Sharjah, that landed the Grade 1 spoils on the day.
The 10-year-old Faugheen went off a 2/5 favourite but wasn't allowed to repeat his front-running wrecking job from last year on his season bow, with the Gordon Elliott-trained Tombstone hassling Ruby Walsh’s mount on the front end.
With the pinch of that telling on his first showing of the season, his flea-fit stablemate was able to pull upsides him on the turn for home and extend away to win easily.
A winner of the Galway Hurdle in August, Sharjah went off a 7/2 shot and landed owner Rich Ricci the feature race of the day in County Kildare, although he might well have prepared to see his old mate justify favouritism instead.
Winning jockey Townend was pleased that the five-year-old was able to put his best foot forward at the highest level, but wasn’t downbeat on Faugheen, who was pushed out from 9-2 to 10-1 in the Antepost market for the Stayers’ Hurdle in March.
"I think Faugheen can bounce back, I wouldn't write him off on that," he said afterward.
Gordon Elliott’s stable star Samcro and Jessica Harrington’s Supasundae were two notable absentees on the day, with both withdrawn at a late stage due to the drying ground on the course.
That pair remain available at as big as 12-1 for March, with Mullins’ Albert Bartlett winner Penhill taking over favouritism after the impact on the market of the performance of his stablemate today.
