Pont explodes on to scene16th December 2012
Pont Alexandre stamped himself a potential star in running out an all-the-way winner of the feature Grade One event at Navan as the highly regarded Don Cossack crashed out at the last when beaten.
Having had just one win in a maiden hurdle in France, the Willie Mullins-trained Pont Alexandre came into the Navan Novice Hurdle as something of an unknown quantity, and Ruby Walsh set out to make every yard on the 3-1 chance.
The winner never saw another rival and Don Cossack, who did not jump that well, was in the process of being caught for second by Busty Brown when he came down after the final flight. It was Davy Russell's third fall in three successive races on the card.