At the Punchestown Festival, Nigel and Sam Twiston-Davies had a raiding success when Casa No Mento continued to win the Close Brothers Mares Novice Hurdle.
Harry Derham's Queens Gamble is the only horse to have won Casa No Mento so far this season. She was sent off a 4-1 shot for this Listed event as connections attempted to join fellow British trainer Tom Lacey on the week's scoresheet.
She pulled out all the stops to hold off Willie Mullins' Got Glory, leading the field into the home straight and finding extra when it mattered to strike by a length and three-quarters.
“She’s exceptional. She is the only horse I’ve ever seen that can work with I Like To Move It,” said Willy Twiston-Davies, who is assistant to his father. “We dropped 2lb after getting beat by Queens Gamble and we were a bit disappointed, but Sam said she wasn’t herself. She’s three from four over hurdles and is the fastest filly we’ve ever had. I rang Patrick Mullins on Thursday when I was in Huntingdon and said ‘have you got the entries for Punchestown as I can’t see our filly in’. He sent me a screenshot and said ‘don't worry she’s in there’. I asked him if it was worth bringing her over and he said she had every chance so a bit of the credit must go to him!”
He continued: “We’ve always thought she’s very good and she proved that today. I think she’ll be better again on faster ground. We’ll probably run her on the Flat now, she’s too fast – that’s her talent. Sam said whatever he wanted to do with her she was there, she’s a very pacy mare. It’s quite fun coming over here and beating the Irish. We had a second at Fairyhouse and dad said to me ‘what are you doing running another one at Punchestown?’. We have to come over and give it a go. Willie had five in, but you have to try to beat him. She’s a good mare and she deserves to be there. She’s no Lossiemouth, but she’s very good in her own right and we’ll enjoy today.”