The Savills Chase On Monday at Leopardstown was one of the spectacles of the entire Christmas Period, with the Grade One event filled with prover stars and the race did not disappoint with an amazing finish.
Although not winning the race, trainer Willie Mullins went on to have the second, third, fourth fifth and seventh in what was arguably the greatest race of 2020.
The Champion trainer was over the moon with his runners especially seeing Kemboy bounce back to form to finish second and Melon running another cracker to just tire and finish third in the final stages.
Both of those runners, although so class to taking out the prestigious Grade One had to settle for the minor honours as Henry De Bromhead's A Plus Tard took well to the step up in trip to power home in the final stages to win the event by half a length.
Allaho although finishing fourth was the one that Mullins was slightly disappointed with, with the yard expecting this gelding to have a huge season for Cheveley Park Stud.
Unbelievable!
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 28, 2020
A Plus Tard snatches victory in a remarkable Savills Chase for Darragh O'Keeffe, @HenrydeBromhead and @CPStudOfficial 👏 @LeopardstownRC #LRCChristmas pic.twitter.com/5qzzEpgw5g
(Credit ATR) “I was very happy with everything in the Savills,” said Mullins.
“Kemboy was back to form, and it was a fantastic run. Melon put in a great round of jumping, and it was another fantastic run.
“Allaho was maybe the one that was a little bit disappointing. I think there is a lot more to come from him.
“Paul (Townend) thinks he still hasn’t reached where he was last year.”
Tornado Flyer and Easy Game ran respectable races for the Cheltenham Hall OF Fame handler, despite not jumping the best did well to see off some smart horses.
He added: “I was delighted where Tornado Flyer finished, because he didn’t jump well enough in the first mile to finish in the first five or six – and he did end up finishing fifth.
“(I hope) we can improve his jumping – he just seems to have lost his confidence for some reason.
“Easy Game was probably not good enough, but he had a little setback since his last run and perhaps needed it.
“I’d imagine we’ll be aim them for the Dublin Racing Festival – that would be the target.”