Sir Des Champs pips gallant Long Run in Punchestown thriller After making most of the running under Sam Waley-Cohen, Long Run was surrounded by all three of Michael O'Leary's runners at the third-last, where Davy Russell nipped through a gap on the favourite and struck for home. Despite opening up a two-length lead Sir Des Champs could not shake off Long Run, who was coming back at the winner all the way up the run-in, with First Lieutenant on their tails in third. "They were second and third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and first and second here," said the winning owner. He ran flat in spots and came alive in spots, but they all had a hard race at Cheltenham. Nicky Henderson has one in Bobs Worth who is better. He's beaten First Lieutenant in the RSA and Sir Des Champs in the Gold Cup - if we're second-best we'll live with that. Having cleaned up at recent Punchestown Festivals this one has been a bit slower for trainer Willie Mullins, who was registering only his second winner. Reflecting on Cheltenham he said: "There's no compensation for not winning the Gold Cup. We might adjust things next year, but there's no guarantee it will work. Waley-Cohen, who dropped his whip at the second-last but caught it again superbly as it disappeared behind his back, was delighted. "He's run another blinder," he said. He's still bang there. He enjoys it up on the pace and on that sort of form we'll have to go for the King George and Gold Cup again next year. Maybe he'll get an entry in the National. Even in defeat owner Robert Waley-Cohen reckoned it was Long Run's best run for a long while. He looked like he was really enjoying himself and was coming back at the winner at the finish. But we've finished behind Sir Des Champs on our last two starts now so maybe that's telling us something.