Tune proves pitch perfect in Punchestown romp

Tune In A Box struck an early blow for the raiding party on day one of the Punchestown Festival when providing trainer Tom Lacey with a first winner on Irish soil in the Blood-Stock.com Full Circle Series Final Handicap Hurdle.

The Herefordshire handler saddled three runners in the €80,000 contest, including the JP McManus-owned 9-2 favourite Montregard.

But for a short-head defeat at Ffos Las on his penultimate start, Tune In A Box would have won his last four races in Britain – and while he was much bigger odds than his stablemate at 16-1, he ran out an emphatic eight-length winner in the hands of Richard Patrick.

Quest With Speed filled the runner-up spot at 50-1, with Montregard half a length further back in third.

Lacey said: “I was watching Montregard throughout the race but I kept casting my eye back to Tune In A Box and I saw him travelling everywhere.

“I thought Montregard would close him down but he didn’t. I thought Montregard would be the horse to beat but Tune In A Box is a horse that keeps surprising us.

“It was a lad who does all my form work that highlighted the series to me. As soon as I read the conditions, I thought it was ideal for a few of those in the barn. We highlighted them and hit the qualifiers quite strong. We won two and were second in another.

“Where can you go for an €80,000 pot with those ratings? There are just not races for them for that prize fund, so it would be crazy not to target it.”