Bistro serves up a feast for Mullins in victory at Naas

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Seabank Bistro appears to have earned himself a place on Willie Mullins’ Cheltenham Festival team after making it third time lucky over hurdles at Naas.

A winner on his racecourse debut at the County Kildare circuit on this day last year, the six-year-old went on to finish fourth behind esteemed stablemate Facile Vega in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.

He was beaten at odds-on in his first two races over hurdles at Punchestown and Limerick, but made no mistake as a 1-2 shot for the I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Maiden Hurdle – travelling strongly to the lead under Paul Townend and coming home with just under three lengths in hand.

Mullins said: “He’s a big immature horse. He did it nicely, he jumps well and is more of a chaser, I think.

“He’ll go out in trip I’d say, maybe to three miles. He was just gawky when he got to the front, he was just idling.

“Paul had to get after him to get up the straight, but that’s twice he’s won around Naas and it’s always a good sign when you can win on this track.

“I’d imagine he’ll get entries in Cheltenham in the Albert Bartlett and Ballymore, I’d be thinking more the Albert Bartlett at this stage.”

Seabank Bistro’s win was the middle leg of a treble on the card for Mullins, with Echoes In Rain impressing in the Limestone Lad Hurdle and Western Diego dominating from the front in the bumper.

A £125,000 purchase after winning an Irish point-to-point, Western Diego was ridden by the trainer’s son Patrick on his rules debut and comfortably justified 6-5 favouritism.

Western Diego looks a smart prospect
Western Diego looks a smart prospect (PA)

Mullins added: “It’s nice for Steve Parkin (owner) who is more associated with the Flat. He did it well making all his own running which is a hard thing to do around here.

“That books his ticket to go across the water (for the Champion Bumper) if Steve wants to go, which I’m sure he will.

“He stays well, he’s by Westerner. He looks like a nice staying novice for next year.”

Oliver McKiernan’s Aarons Day (3-1 favourite) secured his first win in almost three years in the Buy Your Naas 2023 Membership Now Novice Handicap Chase, with Phillip Enright the winning jockey.

The nine-year-old had been highly tried in novice company over fences and made the most of having his sights lowered with a seven-and-a-half-length verdict on his handicap chase debut.

Trainer Oliver McKiernan at Leopardstown
Trainer Oliver McKiernan at Leopardstown (Julien Behal/PA)

“We’re delighted and it was a great ride by Phillip,” said McKiernan.

“He was keeping better company than that for a while, maybe too good, but it taught him a bit. I think it told today that it taught him how to race a bit.

“He liked the ground and the track. We were hoping he’d do that but we were hoping before that he’d do different things!

“He’s a big moody gent. He’s difficult to handle and can blow a fuse very quickly. He’s big and powerful so it’s not simple. Hopefully he’s developing and getting better now.

“I have no plans really. He’ll probably stay at the likes of that and will stay further in time.”

The father-son team of Charles and Philip Byrnes teamed up to land the Cheltenham Trials Day At Naas February 11th Maiden Hurdle with 9-1 shot Byker.

Byrnes senior said: “He’s a lovely, big horse. He had a nice run in Limerick and came forward from that. We were hopeful today but there was so much word for a few others that we were getting worried.”

When asked if he could get an entry in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, he added:- “He could but he’d need another run. We won’t rule it out.”

Doyen Ta Win was a 6-1 winner of the Congratulations Naas On Cleanest Town In Ireland In 2021 & 2022 Handicap Hurdle.

Mullins remaining upbeat despite Energumene eclipse

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Willie Mullins remains keen to take the positives out of Energumene’s defeat at Cheltenham on Saturday ahead of his return to the track for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The nine-year-old provided the most successful trainer in Festival history with a first Champion Chase victory last season and he was a hot favourite to strike Prestbury Park gold once more in the rescheduled Clarence House Chase – saved from the previous weekend’s abandoned fixture at Ascot.

But while Energumene travelled with plenty of zest, he ballooned the first fence and a blunder at the last sealed his fate as he placed third behind Editeur De Gite and Edwardstone.

Mullins felt his performance was affected by the white trim on the fences at Cheltenham, which have been changed from orange since his Festival success of last term, and the Closutton handler believes that experience will stand him in good stead ahead of a likely rematch with the two horses that beat him in March.

“He seems to be fine and he travelled home well,” said Mullins.

“He’s just a bit stiff and sore. Sometimes when you get them home it’s three days later, because any horse can be stiff and sore for a day or two and you don’t mind it, but if they don’t recover then you are in trouble.

“Fingers crossed, he’s all right.

“It was his first time going to England and jumping the new white fences, even though he had jumped them at home, and he just baulked at the first.

“It was definitely a useful exercise for us and I’d say it’s something a lot of Irish horses are going to have to prepare for because if you miss the first at Cheltenham, your race could be gone.”

Mullins is taking further confidence from his stable jockey Paul Townend’s reaction to the performance.

He added: “Paul was very keen on him after the race and said come March, he wouldn’t swap him for the two that finished in front of him.”

Guard rails, take-off boards and top boards on British obstacles switched from orange to white last year after research showed white increased contrast and visibility for horses, leading to improved jumping performance.

Echoes In Rain pours it on to take Limestone Lad honours

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Echoes In Rain got her season back on track with a runaway victory in the Naas Racecourse Business Club Limestone Lad Hurdle.

The seven-year-old had previously won five times since joining Willie Mullins, including Grade Two and Grade One wins in novice company over hurdles and a lucrative handicap success on the Flat at the Galway Festival last summer.

She was subsequently beaten a neck by Waterville in the Irish Cesarewitch before falling two flights from home on her return to the jumping game in the Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse last month.

Dropping in trip and class for this two-mile Grade Three, Echoes In Rain was the 5-6 favourite and those who took the cramped odds will have had few concerns as she cruised into contention under a motionless Paul Townend before pulling 10 lengths clear of stablemate Cash Back.

Dual Cheltenham Festival winner Bob Olinger stuck to his guns to finish third after coming under pressure leaving the back straight, but in truth looks a shadow of his former self.

“She did it nicely, probably better than I expected,” Mullins said of the winner.

“We thought we probably had the fastest horse in the race so Paul wasn’t in any rush to get to the front. He was happy enough to let someone else make it.

Trainer Willie Mullins at Leopardstown
Trainer Willie Mullins at Leopardstown (Brian Lawless/PA)

“She was keen enough as well and probably the few runs on the Flat lit her up a bit. That’s the problem you have when you mix it. With a faster-run race she’ll be all right.

“When you go up a grade, to Grade One, I’m not sure she’s sharp enough at two miles.

“The Mares’ Hurdle (at Cheltenham) is two and a half and maybe that’s where she’ll go. That would be the first port of call, I’d think.”

Paddy Power cut Echoes In Rain to 6-1 from 10-1 for the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle on March 14.

Champion jockey ambition still burns brightly for Marquand

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Uphill be damned. He knows it will be a mountainous task, possibly harder even than last year.

Yet Tom Marquand confesses he will relish the challenge.

Oisin Murphy, who was deposed by William Buick as champion jockey last term – a title he held for three successive seasons before that – returns next month following a 14-month ban.

Buick, who went so close the year before and arguably should have been top dog, has now gnawed that tasty bone and is salivating for another.

But that combination of great physical strength and a highly developed will to win, which has become his hallmark, ensures genial young pup Marquand will again be in the argument. It can only be a matter of time. So why not this year?

“Champion jockey has to be in the back of your mind,” said the 24-year-old, who has partnered over 100 winners in each of his last five years, including a whopping 176 turf and all-weather tally in 2021.

Last year the accent was more on quality. He rode three Group One winners and finished third in the title race, level with his wife Hollie Doyle on 91 wins having ridden more horses, and enjoyed a total of 127 victories overall.

For clarity, the Flat Jockeys’ Championship has operated on a reduced timescale since 2015 –  and spans just 24 weeks from the start of the Guineas Meeting at Newmarket to British Champions Day at Ascot.

Changing the narrative from a 32-week window at the start of the turf season, on Lincoln Handicap Day, to the end on November Handicap Day, has confused die-hard traditional ‘turfistes’.

The change was made to make it potentially enticing to top jockeys, some of whom are simply not interested in chasing low-grade winners at far-flung places at the start and end of the season.

Marquand is different. Refreshingly bereft of aloofness, he is more than happy to face an icy midwinter blast and ride 0-60-rated performers at all-weather tracks if it means he quenches his thirst for winners.

If comparisons can be such a thing, then he is Flat racing’s equivalent of Richard Johnson. Rarely in this demanding sport have there been two more likeable, humble, honest and thoroughly wonderful exponents of the art of jockeyship.

Johnson, of course, was a supremely talented jump jockey, the finest of horseman cursed to have been the contemporary of the most relentless and gifted practitioner in the sport’s history.

Marquand hopes he will not have the misfortune to be condemned to the Buick or Murphy era, as Johnson was with AP McCoy.

“Once you are riding that amount of winners per year or per season, champion jockey is something that you are always going to want to try to go down with when you are done,” added Marquand.

Champion jockey William Buick has Marquand's respect
Champion jockey William Buick has Marquand’s respect (John Walton/PA)

“So definitely champion jockey is something I’d like to do. It will be hard, but Will, to be honest, was insane last year.

“It was incredible what he did. He literally gapped us straight away.

“Before that, in the previous two years, I was in the hunt until mid-August and then they stretched away. I was always within 10 or 15 winners, but last year it was game over early.”

The odds are against it, this season at least. Sky Bet offer 14-1 for Marquand, who was champion apprentice in 2015, to take the title.

He has the utmost respect for the 1-2 favourite, however, insisting 34-year-old Buick will be tough to stop as he goes for his second crown.

“To be fair to Will, he is Godolphin’s stable jockey – he doesn’t need to do it (go everywhere and ride everything). But it is something he wants to do and he has just shown he can drop his head and run, and do everything right,” added the Classic-winning rider.

Sea La Rosa provided Marquand with one of his three top-class victories last year
Sea La Rosa provided Marquand with one of his three top-class victories last year (Steven Paston/PA)

“Take a kid like (apprentice) Billy Loughnane, who is just starting out. You just go, ‘This is William Buick. This is what he does’, and he is never going to see anything that he shouldn’t do. He sets the example.”

Marquand admits he gets on well with the Norwegian-born rider, yet treats him with a due deference accorded to senior jockeys.

“I probably didn’t have too much to do with Will until a couple of years ago when we started travelling a bit, going to Hong Kong and stuff. He is probably that generation above me a little bit. You’ve got him, James Doyle, that crowd,” said Marquand.

“There are now two rows below me already – and I’m still only 24. You have Billy as one of the youngest ones, then you have Benoit (de la Sayette) and Harry Davies just below. It moves on quick.

Wolverhampton Races – Thursday 19th January 2023
Apprentice Billy Loughnane (right) has good examples to follow (Simon Marper/PA)

“But Will has always been that bracket above. It is a generational thing, even though in racing there are many generations within the weighing room.”

Disarmingly grounded, still conveying a sheen of wonderment at his good fortune to be in high demand, while enjoying plum rides for William Haggas, Roger Varian and other top yards, Marquand is fully aware of the grind and high standards required to reach his goal. Buick sets an increasingly high bar.

“Everybody in the weighing room has tremendous respect for Will,” Marquand added.

“I am one of the first ones to want to beat him, but you just commend people for their hard work when they do it that way.”

My Prospero firing Marquand dreams in big year ahead

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There are more seagulls on the resplendent white infield – and many more floodlights – than punters. The bookmaker count is up to two. And there it shall stay.

One moderate horse after another is announced to less than a handful of die-hards as they circle wearily around the parade ring, replete with its bank of shovelled snow.

Our hero stands outside the weighing room on a bitterly cold January afternoon, a brusque wind thwacking his silks.

He is already sat on a 61-rated 25-1 chance in an extended nine-furlong handicap that takes an extended eternity to run. Later, he will be riding two similarly modest beasts, both of whom finish runner-up in head-to-head battles of mediocrity.

Cleared snow piled up next to the parade ring at Wolverhampton
Cleared snow piled up next to the parade ring at Wolverhampton (Simon Marper/PA)

No matter. These are the days of toil and moil, ones that keep you mindful.

And far from despondent, Tom Marquand still cannot quite believe his luck.

They will have to go some before having a jockey-trainer relationship to match the longevity of George Duffield and Sir Mark Prescott. Yet given the warmth the 24-year-old rider has for William Haggas, it would be a brave man to bet against anything coming between their burgeoning partnership. Even if one of those two bookies would lay that bet.

This is all a far cry from Japan, where he and his wife, fellow jockey Hollie Doyle, spent a hugely successful riding spell at the end of last year.

Tom Marquand is excited by the prospects for the Flat season
Tom Marquand is excited by the prospects for the Flat season (Mike Egerton/PA)

On a bleak, raw afternoon such as this, it was only right to look to sunnier days and try to turn nuggets of negative into pebbles of positivity. Or in his case, boulders of belief, particularly in the Haggas horses.

“Quite a lot excites me to be honest,” says Marquand, his eyes sparkling and voice rising with anticipation.

“I went into the yard earlier in the month for the first time since coming back and you are probably almost guilty about forgetting some horses, because you get excited about others, and then you remember you’ve got yet another good one there.”

The softly-spoken, considered Haggas, who handled top-class colt Baaeed so brilliantly last term, does not have that big gun to fire, now that he’s gone to stud. There are still some powerful bullets in the barrel, however

Marquand explained: “To be honest, we have a really strong-looking team going into this year.

“The two that probably stand out the most, just because of the way their season went, are My Prospero and Maljoom.”

My Prospero was unfortunate not to have won all of his five starts last season, being touched off in the St James’s Palace Stakes and on his return to Ascot in the Champion Stakes.

Maljoom won the German Guineas before suffering all sorts of trouble in running in the St James’s Palace under the unfortunate Cieren Fallon, going down just half a length to Coroebus.

“They are both Group One horses that didn’t get their Group One on their cards for various different reasons,” said Marquand. “It was unfortunate, but they are two extremely exciting horses.

“I saw My Prospero and he looks an absolute monster. He looks gorgeous and he’s strengthened as well.

“The Champion Stakes was rated the second-highest race in the world and he was beaten half a length. To be honest, I thought things didn’t really go our way with the way the race set up, so it really poses the question of what might be to come with him.

Maljoom won the German Guineas last term
Maljoom won the German Guineas last term (John Walton/PA)

“Maljoom, as well, had a pretty torrid time. He was unlucky at Ascot after winning the German Guineas. He then got sick and had a bad run at it, basically. He is one to look forward to, definitely.”

The 24-year-old feels he is in the best possible place, riding for a man who is effusive in his praise and slow to chide.

“It has been a nice relationship, even away from the trainer-jockey side,” said Marquand of the Newmarket handler.

“I’m lucky to have found someone who looks after me and treats me well.

“I think when you are young as well, it is so important because, realistically, even if you’ve had a bit of success, you are still trying to mould your career the right way.

Marquand is humbled to work for William Haggas and his team
Marquand is humbled to work for William Haggas and his team (Nigel French/PA)

“How many jockeys at 23 or 24 had a career and by the time they are 26 or 27 it’s gone? There’s a lot.

“To have someone like that… and it is not just him, it is Maureen (Haggas’ wife and assistant) and the lads at home, and the travelling lads.

“I don’t know, but for whatever reason, they have created a proper team. Everyone is invested. It is not like, ‘Oh we just work for him and we just do our job, and that’s it. Everybody is in for the long haul.”

In a stark reminder that this often beautiful sport can sometimes be equally brutal, Doyle suffered a broken elbow in a fall at Wolverhampton a couple of weeks ago. There is no timescale for her return to the saddle.

Yet if ever there was an old head on young shoulders, it belongs to her husband.

Wolverhampton
Frosty days at Wolverhampton provide perspective (Simon Milham/PA)

Grateful for the career he has and the good friends he works for, Marquand is appreciative and pragmatic.

“It is humbling,” he adds. “When stuff like that happens, nothing is a given.

“You are not going to wake up tomorrow morning and go and get on a Group One horse or anything like that – you might not be able to get up to ride a Group One horse, even if you have found it.

“It is racing. It is all sport. So it is pretty easy to keep it all in perspective, to be honest.”

Thedevilscoachman awarded Grade Three prize at Naas

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Thedevilscoachman was awarded victory in the stewards’ room following a dramatic conclusion to the Finlay Ford At Naas Novice Chase.

Five runners went to post for the Grade Three contest, with the Willie Mullins-trained Ramillies the 13-8 favourite to follow up a successful fencing debut at Thurles last month.

Amirite and Rachael Blackmore took the quintet along for much of the three-mile-one-furlong journey, with Ramillies always his nearest pursuer under Paul Townend.

With Cheltenham winner Chemical Energy weakening disappointingly, it turned into a three-way fight, with Amirite and Ramillies joined by Thedevilscoachman and Bryan Cooper halfway up the home straight.

The drama began after jumping the second fence from the finish, with Noel Meade’s Thedevilscoachman (100-30) seemingly having the door closed on him when going for a gap between the front pair.

Cooper angled his mount wide of his rivals to mount his challenge on the run-in and was was clawing back Ramillies all the way to the line, but the latter held on by a neck.

However, following a subsequent enquiry the stewards reversed the result.

Meade said: “I know I’m biased, but I think it was the right decision.

“What probably made the decision was when Paul jumped the second-last he came over in front of him. You could say why didn’t he go round him, but he never actually had a chance to go round him because once Paul blocked him up he had nowhere to go except to keep going straight.

“Rachael came out and Paul went in (at the last), but I think he was the best horse.”

Trainer Noel Meade
Trainer Noel Meade (Niall Carson/PA)

Considering future plans, the trainer added: “I’ll have to talk to Frank (Berry) and JP (McManus) before I can say where he’s going to go because I don’t know. Frank is away on holidays with the boss.

“I do think wherever he goes he does need soft ground, that’s essential.

“I didn’t put him in the National Hunt Chase, I put him in the Brown Advisory. I think three miles is far enough for him.

“I think Cheltenham mightn’t be soft enough for him, if it was good ground there. We might even be thinking more of a handicap there, that might be an idea.”

Ramillies at Naas
Ramillies at Naas (Gary Carson/PA)

Prior to the placings being amended, Mullins’ assistant David Casey said: “There was a bit of race-riding at the back of the second-last and I think Paul just held his position.

“He’s a grand horse and stays well. He seems to have put it together better over fences than he did over hurdles.

“He’s in the National Hunt Chase and to me he looks like a horse for that, but the trainer will make the decision.

“He did it well and Paul said he was happy all the way round.”

Thomson eyeing Eider prep for National hope Hill Sixteen

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Sandy Thomson is plotting a potential route to the Randox Grand National via the Eider Chase with Hill Sixteen.

The tough staying chaser has not run since finishing seventh to Ashtown Lad in the Becher Chase at Aintree in early December.

His Berwickshire handler saw the 10-year-old drop 2lb in the handicap to a mark of 143, which should be a high enough mark to see Court Cave gelding slip into the National off a low weight.

Thomson is keen to protect that mark and said: “Obviously, we want to go for the National, so on 143, we couldn’t really run him again.

“We thought he would go for the Grand National Trial, but this year it so happens that the Grand National Trial is before the National weights are published.

“So it will either be the Eider (at Newcastle on February 25) – but if it was really soft you might not want to give him a really hard race in that – or it will be the Premier Chase at Kelso (March 4).”

Hill Sixteen was runner-up to Snow Leopardess in the Becher Chase, a recognised National trial, in December 2021, so has plenty of experience over the unique spruce-topped fences.

However, Thomson insists that any thoughts of a run in the extended four-and-a-quarter-mile April 15 spectacular will be dependent on plenty of rain.

“It’s got to be wet enough for him,” said Thomson. “The way these (dry) Aprils have been going recently, we are bound to get a wet one soon.”

Willmount delighting Mulholland since exciting debut

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Neil Mulholland is eyeing the spring festivals for his exciting bumper horse Willmount.

Bought for £340,000 following an impressive display in the pointing field at Comea in February last year, he went some way to justifying that price-tag when a commanding 13-length scorer on his rules debut at Doncaster earlier this month.

Jamie Moore was motionless aboard the Ollie Harris-owned five-year-old during the closing stages on Town Moor and Mulholland was delighted to see the son of Blue Bresil make a winning start – while also believing the team at Conkwell Lodge are only just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential.

He said: “He’s a nice horse who has come out of the race really well and we’re hoping he’ll have come on for the race as well.

“I’ll have to speak to the owner, but we’ll be looking at the likes of Cheltenham and Aintree and places like that.

“Everything of course has to be good and go well and we’re hoping he’ll be a nice novice hurdler next year. But if he keeps on improving the way he is we’ll definitely be at the likes of Cheltenham and Aintree – that’s what the owner buys these horses for, he wants to be at the big meetings.

“He’s a nice horse to get and thankfully his first run lived up to expectation. Now he has to obviously step up again, but we would be more than confident there is hopefully more to come. He definitely wasn’t drilled for his bumper at Doncaster.”

The decision on if Willmount will run again before the spring is yet to be finalised with a Listed bumper at Newbury on February 11 a possibility. Although Mulholland appears to be favouring heading straight to the Champion Bumper on March 15 – a race for which he is a best price of 25-1 with bet365, but as short as 14-1 in places.

“I would suspect he would go straight there,” continued Mulholland.

“We don’t want to be overracing him and he’s backwards enough. It’s long-term we want this horse for so we’ll do what is right for the horse.

“We could go for a bumper at Newbury in the middle of February, but then you’ve only got four weeks to get over that to go to Cheltenham.”

Mullins keen to deflect praise elsewhere after reaching 4,000 career winners

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He shrugged it off, just as he had when reaching yet another landmark that few will ever achieve.

Energumene was beaten but unbowed at Cheltenham, his aversion to the Clarence House Chase, his only defeat over fences last term, again haunting favourite-backers after the race was salvaged from a frosty, abandoned Ascot.

Indeed, this was to be a bittersweet afternoon for Willie Mullins, who batted another accomplishment away, with his usual winsome, win-some-lose-some parlance.

He has been at this game a long time. By his own admission, he knows little else than his preposterous ability to train horses.

All smiles from Daryl Jacob following the landmark victory of Bronn
All smiles from Daryl Jacob following the landmark victory of Bronn (PA)

To him, the 4,000th winner of his long and distinguished career, achieved when Bronn narrowly justified long odds-on favouritism in the soil.ie Working With Fairyhouse Beginners Chase, was just another victory.

Not that he would not savour it. There were simply bigger fish to fry.

While things did not quite go according to plan at Prestbury Park, with the Queen Mother Champion Chase hero finishing third to to Editeur Du Gite in the Albert Bartlett-sponsored feature, Mullins, underneath his trademark trilby, was still smiling.

“The winner put up a great performance and I’m not going to take that away from him. We weren’t able to beat him on the day and just hope it will be a different result the next day for us,” he graciously said.

And that is the hallmark of the Closutton handler, who took over from his father, Paddy Mullins, in 1988, having had a hugely successful career as an amateur jockey and also learning more than a few tricks as an assistant to Jim Bolger.

However, he allowed himself a little smile at the milestone, before heaping praise on others, as is his all-too-regular wont.

“I’m delighted,” he said, with more than a hint of embarrassment.

“I’m really happy for all the owners we have met throughout the years who have made this possible.

“They are the building blocks we start on, so I’m very lucky with the group of owners I’ve had over the years, with my family, wife Jackie and (son) Patrick, our staff in the yard who have been with us for years. It is really a family affair.”

No question he has stood on the shoulders of his father, who had a legendary career himself, and the 66-year-old has taken tried and trusted methods, honed his experiences and taken this game to another level altogether.

“Everything I learned, I learned from my dad, including patience, which I didn’t know I was learning – and didn’t want to learn when I was younger, as is the way it is when you are younger,” he admitted.

“You don’t realise the things you are learning as you are just doing day-to-day stuff until you come across those problems and instances in your life that you think back and go, ‘Oh, he would have done this or would have done that’. Then things become simpler and clearer, and you realise why he did those things.

“He was just hugely experienced.”

Did he ever think he would be standing in the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure, before a Grade One event, looking for winner number 4,001?

“I never dreamt it,” he said. “When we were starting off, big jumps trainers had 60 horses, maybe 70. You take the top English trainers at the time, that’s the max they had.

“And if someone said to me when I got my licence, I’ll give you 60 horses for every year you were going to train for the rest of your life, you’d jump at it.

“The game has just gone bigger. The popularity of jump racing is huge and is growing all the time, and long may it last.”

Patrick Mullins is soaking up knowledge from his father
Patrick Mullins is soaking up knowledge from his father (Niall Carson/PA)

There are no signs he has any thoughts of retirement, and that is a great thing. For not only can you bank on backing WP Mullins runners blind at the March Festival – where he is out on his own as the leading trainer – his son is not yet too keen to have that baton passed to him.

Assistant to his father, Patrick said: “Dad is a huge role model. He taught me everything about riding, all about tactics, how to deal with owners, how to deal with other jockeys. He has all the angles covered and he is always thinking about things that aren’t really obvious.

“He learned from his father and built from there.

“I remember, growing up, my memory kicks in when we were second to Noel Meade in the championship and we said, ‘We might beat Noel in prize-money, but we’d never beat him in winners’.”

Of course, there are always choppy waters to navigate. In 2016, Gigginstown House Stud, owned by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, removed 60 horses from the yard, Mullins having put up his training fees for the first time in a decade. If anything, that episode only served to make the operation stronger.

“The big thing was when Gigginstown left, he could have very easily downscaled, but he didn’t – he upscaled, and we’ve more horses now than before Gigginstown left. That is a sign of his ambition,” said Mullins junior.

“One day I’ll take over, I’m sure. But I’m in no rush and I don’t think he is in any rush, either.

“I think he’ll train for a long time yet – and that suits me, I’m not in any rush!”

Willie Mullins casts a watchful eye over his string
Willie Mullins casts a watchful eye over his string (Niall Carson/PA)

Mullins senior is affable, calm, calculated and competitive. He has an endearing yet sometimes frustrating quality in keeping his cards close to his chest, yet one is left with nothing but admiration for his dominance.

Patrick added: “There is more to training horses than just getting them fit. There is a people side and I think he’s very good at it. Some people are good with the people side, but not as good at training, but he’s the full package.

“I don’t think he is quite as obsessed as maybe Aidan O’Brien, he does have other outlets, he is not one-dimensional.”

Mullins senior, a keen Manchester United supporter, likes a round of golf, and by his own admission, is a little more relaxed these days.

“I do tend to try to enjoy things more now,” he said. “I find my interest now is downtime, rather than looking for something else to do, just relaxing when we have time off.

“I suppose when you wake up and you hear a horse coughing or bucking, you are living on the job.

“But everything has been great so far, especially when you have someone like Patrick coming up behind.”

The dynasty is in safe hands, you can be sure of that. But for now we will raise our glass to the next bucket-load of Mullins Festival winners and doff the trilby in tribute.

Stage Star leads Cheltenham hat-trick for jubilant Nicholls

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Stage Star put himself in the Cheltenham Festival picture with a fine display of jumping on Trials Day – the first leg of a brilliant 102-1 treble at Prestbury Park for champion trainer Paul Nicholls.

Sent off the 11-4 favourite for the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase and carrying top-weight of 12st, the son of Fame And Glory produced an exhibition round from the front end to coast home the best part of four-lengths clear of runner-up Datsalrightgino in the hands of Harry Cobden.

In the aftermath, Coral went 10-1 from 25s for the Grade One Turners Novices’ Chase at the Festival, but his future target appears still to be decided.

“He has shown what he is made of today. It has just taken him a little while to get right,” said Nicholls.

“He won the Challow last year and we thought he was good. He was very good at Warwick then it all went wrong at Newbury. I think that day several horses didn’t enjoy the ground and he hung. He had a nice confidence booster at Plumpton and he has done that very nicely.

“It is a big weight to carry around there and do that well. I’m thrilled with that. I thought he was nicely in off 142. He is only a novice and he has a bit of experience around here and it means we can come back here in March if we want to in one of the novice chases. He was a Grade One winner last season and he is obviously a very nice horse, 142 was a very nice mark if he put it all together.

Paul Nicholls had a big day at Cheltenham
Paul Nicholls had a big day at Cheltenham (David Davies/PA)

“That (the Cheltenham Festival) is a long way off. He would get three miles, but it depends on the ground and opposition. He will be well worth running. He is only a novice once.

“I thought the ground was that bit softer how he likes it today and he is a novice and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go three miles at Newbury as I have something else for that anyway. There are not lots of options for horses like these.

“The top-weight should be the best horse in the race if it all goes right and I think 142 was a fair mark. He is a Challow Hurdle winner and he should be a 150 horse in time. He will be a smart chaser. He is just getting his act together and we are learning how to train him. The day at Newbury he was beat the ground was very quick. He is much better on that ground.”

Nicholls and Cobden soon added to their tally when Il Ridoto (9-2) held off the 7-2 favourite Fugitif to land the Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase.

Festival Trials Day – Cheltenham Racecourse – Saturday 28th January
Il Ridoto ridden by Harry Cobden (right) clears a fence before going on to win the Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase during Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham Racecourse (David Davies/PA)

A switch to front-running tactics combined with the application of cheekpieces had the desired effect and the winner is likely to return for the handicap over the same track and trip at the Festival.

“I thought he had a big chance of winning here the last day (when fourth in the Paddy Power New Year’s Day Handicap Chase) but he sort of ducked in left handed and fell through the last and that sort of cost him any chance really,” said Nicholls.

“I think few were doubting about whether he wanted a flat track and whether he truly stayed. I thought he was kidding us a little bit as he was coming out of his races so well and the cheekpieces have focused his mind today. He travelled and jumped brilliantly and had a great ride so it’s superb.

“When you’re fit and well you’re better off on the speed around here and I said to him to go out and ride him like he rode Stage Star. If it happens great and if it doesn’t so be it.”

He went on: “I said if he didn’t win today we’d have to go for a flat track but I thought he’d gallop up the hill – he’s just been kidding us and today he did it nicely.

“I haven’t really got a plan for him to be honest, if he hadn’t have won I was going to go for a race at Newbury just before the Festival on a flat track but now he has I suppose we’ll come back here.

“I wouldn’t be afraid of possibly considering the Topham Chase for him, as I think two miles and five furlongs around Aintree would suit him nicely.”

It was left to stable conditional Angus Cheleda and willing partner Hacker Des Places to put the finishing touches on a fantastic day for team Ditcheat when they combined to land the concluding SSS Super Alloys Handicap Hurdle.

The victory brought up a 140-1 across-the-card treble of their own for the Owners Group, with the champion trainer revealing the Betfair Hurdle will be up next.

Nicholls said: “It was a long way from the second last to the line! He’s in the Betfair Hurdle in two weeks’ time, which has always been my aim.

“I just felt we needed to get a run into him. He has been in training for so long without a run. He should improve a little bit for today’s run, and will get a little penalty but Angus will take that off and we’ll go to Newbury.”

Cheleda added: “I thought I got there a bit too soon really and then the race fell apart at two out, so I thought I’d kick off the bend and he’s galloped all the way up the hill. It’s my first winner at Cheltenham for the boss so it’s a special moment.”