Reaching High gives King and Queen 10-length win at Listowel
The King and Queen opened their jumps account for the new season in style as Reaching High won by 10 lengths at Listowel in Ireland on Thursday.
The four-year-old, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend, started the John J. Galvin Maiden Hurdle as the 1-4 favourite. He quickened clear to win easily. Ten lengths. No contest.
A maiden hurdle is a race for horses yet to win over jumps, and this one came at the Listowel Harvest Festival in County Kerry. The National Hunt season is the winter jumps circuit, where horses race over hurdles and fences rather than on the flat.
Reaching High arrived with a story. Twice beaten as favourite at Royal Ascot on the flat, he finished a close second on his hurdling debut at the end of August. At Listowel he put it together.
The win carries history. It was the first royal winner in Ireland in many years, Racing Post reported, and is believed to be the first winner in Ireland owned by a sitting British monarch since the founding of the Irish state.
Mullins summed it up as "One for the King in the Kingdom", according to The Irish Times. The King and Queen were not at Listowel to see it, Mullins said.
For fans, this means Cheltenham is now on the map. Mullins said the long-term target is the Turners Novices' Hurdle, a top race for novice hurdlers at the Cheltenham Festival next March.
Reaching High is bred for the big stage. He is by Sea The Stars and out of Estimate, the Ascot Gold Cup-winning mare, and is listed by Racing Post as bred by Queen Elizabeth II and owned by the King and Queen. He was previously trained on the flat by Sir Michael Stoute before joining Mullins in Ireland.
The royal link with Mullins is still fresh. He sent out Reaching High as his first runner for the King and Queen at Leopardstown. Thursday's race was sponsored by local firm John J. Galvin & Son Ltd.
The Listowel prize was modest by royal standards. The race offered EUR15,000 in total, with EUR9,000 to the winner, according to Horse Racing Ireland. Listowel itself is one of Ireland's oldest tracks, with racing dating to 1858 and a seven-day Harvest Festival each September.
