I am pleased to see the results from the Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup - Neptune Collonges in first, of course, comes as little surprise to those of us who’ve followed this horse throughout his career. Insider tips were all leaning on this favourite as the one to beat. The final results of the top three were also little surprise, although watching a race like this closely should give punters a good deal of insight as to which horses will be competitive next year, and which ones won’t. Each race offers us a great deal of insight into the patterns of performance for each horse, and help us to judge where to place our bets in the next races.

But no rival could - let’s do a recap:

Neptune Collonges, ridden by Ruby Walsh, broke away from all rivals on the funal turn and established his lead through the last two. In the end Neptune Collonges came ahead by seven lengths - with Snowy Morning taking second, and Mossbank taking third.

Paul Nicholls, Neptune Collenges’ trainer, had this to say after the race:

“It was a brilliant performance. He was entitled to win on his Gold Cup form and I tink he’s a better horse than last year.”

On that point, I would have to agree. In following his career and listening to many of the insider tips, I’ve recognized Neptune Collonges career building steam. Whether that steam will build or stagnate depends, in large part, with whether he continues to improve as he has been.

Overall, I found this to be a fantastic race all around, and the top three certainly deserved those spots.

In closing, I should note that Snowy Morning is also just as promising. As willie Mullins pointed out to the press:

“That would be probably the best run of his life and I’d say we’d have to look at the big races next season as he is going to be handicapped out of the National.”

I would say that I agree wholeheartedly. Snowy Morning will certainly be one to watch in the races next season.