Third G1 win in four days for Oscar

29th April 2007

Oscar rounded off a remarkable 2007 Punchestown Festival with a third G1 winner in four days when Silent Oscar (8g Oscar - Silent Shot by Random Shot) battled gamely to defeat Macs Joy to land the G1 ACCBank Champion Hurdle on Friday.

The winner, bred by Patrick Sheridan and trained by Harry Rogers, had beaten Macs Joy on his previous start in a Flat race at the Curragh and he now has an even loftier target, the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June.

"The plan after beating Macs Joy on the Flat at the Curragh was always to come here," said Rogers. "The ground is the key to him, he wants it good or with a little bit of ease. We have him in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and, if the ground stayed right, he could go there."

Winning jockey Robbie Power added: "I got to the front sooner than I wanted but my fellow was tough and stuck his head out past the line."

Silent Oscar’s success followed victories for Refinement (8m Oscar-Maneree by Mandalus) in the G1 Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa Champion Stayers’ Hurdle on Thursday and Offshore Account (7g Oscar - Park Breeze by Strong Gale) in the G1 Ellier Developments Hanover Quay Developments Novice Chase on Tuesday.

Indeed with Clopf (6g Dr Massini-Chroma by Supreme Leader) winning the G1 vcbet.com Champion Novice Hurdle on Tuesday and Mick The Man (6g Saddlers’ Hall - Nuala’s Pet by Buckskin) landing Wednesday’s G1 Paddy Power Champion INH Flat Race, no less than half the G1 races at this year’s Punchestown Festival were won by the progeny of Coolmore stallions.