Lecky Watson was something of an unexpected Willie Mullins-trained winner of the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham, as his better-fancied stablemates faltered.
The chestnut was a 20-1 shot under Sean O’Keeffe, with Mullins also responsible for Ballyburn, Quai De Bourbon and Dancing City in an all-Irish-trained field of seven.
Ballyburn was the 4-7 favourite, but a jumping error put paid to his chances, and in the end it was Lecky Watson who seized the opportunity and stayed on best to repel Gordon Elliott’s Stellar Story by four lengths.