Honeysuckle bettered the long-standing record of Bula when winning her third Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown and fourteenth victory under rules in all.
The daughter of Sulamani and her rider Rachael Blackmore were welcomed back into the winner’s enclosure by a rapturous applause.
The eight-year-old kicked clear of her rivals approaching the straight and in a matter of strides had the rest of the field at her mercy.
Since winning her point-to-point maiden at Dromahane in 2018 for handler Gerry Cosgrave she has now won 10 Grade 1 races for her connections.
An elated Henry de Bromhead said afterwards: ‘That was absolutely brilliant, the pair of them were great, we are just delighted.’
‘I thought she jumped well throughout, maybe went a little left at one of them but winged the second last and took off again. It felt like a long straight after the last but they were just brilliant.’
‘The atmosphere here today has just been amazing and it’s just great to be here.’
Another masterclass from Honeysuckle in the Irish Champion Hurdle to thrill the #DublinRacingFestival crowd at Leopardstown #rteracing pic.twitter.com/ZdgwW53Qjl
— RTÉ Racing (@RTEracing) February 6, 2022
