Tag Archive for: Willie Mullins

Ashroe Diamond set to sparkle for Mullins at Fairyhouse

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Ashroe Diamond leads an eight-strong Willie Mullins team into battle in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

The champion trainer has saddled five of the last nine winners of the two-and-a-half-mile Grade One and appears intent on adding to his tally on Easter Sunday.

Ashroe Diamond looks the first string under Paul Townend, having won a Grade Three prize here before a late setback ruled her out of an intended appearance at the Cheltenham Festival last month.

Patrick Mullins, who partnered the six-year-old to a high-profile bumper success at Aintree last season, said: “It was unfortunate she didn’t get to run in Cheltenham, but she’s been 100 per cent since and she’s definitely the number one.

“She’s obviously won at Fairyhouse and we’d like to think on her previous form in Grade Ones behind Facile Vega and Marine Nationale she’ll be hard to beat.”

Ashroe Diamond is joined by Night And Day (Daryl Jacob), Eabha Grace (Conor McNamara), Got Glory (Jack Foley), Hauturiere (Brian Hayes), Lot Of Joy (Nico de Boinville), Nikini (Patrick Mullins) and Pink In The Park (Phillip Enright).

“Night And Day missed Cheltenham as well and she’s a very talented mare,” Mullins added.

“She ran in this last year first time out, so that shows what we think of her and hopefully she can fulfil her potential.

“Got Glory is a mare with a lot of ability, but it is going to be hard for her on her first Irish start, and I ride Nikini, who ran all right in Cheltenham but the ground could be against her.”

Magical Zoe winning at Down Royal
Magical Zoe winning at Down Royal (Brian Lawless/PA)

Henry de Bromhead would undoubtedly love to win a prize named after his recently retired stable star Honeysuckle, who dominated her rivals in this race four years ago.

The trainer’s main hope appears to be Magical Zoe, who filled the runner-up spot in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, with stablemate Rioga Choice an outsider.

Gordon Elliott’s trio of Halka Du Tabert, Harmonya Maker and Shecouldbeanything also feature, as does the Tony Mullins-trained Princess Zoe.

The latter finished fifth at Cheltenham and her trainer expects to see his Group One-winning mare in a better light stepping back up in distance.

He said: “If you take the Cheltenham run on face value, going up half a mile will be a big advantage to us, but now this is a Grade One and there’s no penalties we’re 5lb worse off with Magical Zoe.

“If the half-mile negates the 5lb we’re right in there. You have to decide whether you think it will or not and I think it will – I think the extra half-mile is crucial to Zoe.”

Chacun Pour Soi and Bachasson in Cork showdown

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Chacun Pour Soi takes on stablemate Bachasson in the Bar One Racing Chase at Cork on Sunday.

Chacun Pour Soi has won six times at Grade One level over fences, but has been beaten in each of his three previous races this season and was last of nine in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham last month.

The 11-year-old steps down in grade but up in trip for this weekend’s three-mile Grade Three – and his biggest danger appears to be fellow Willie Mullins-trained gelding Bachasson, who recently made a successful return from over two years on the sidelines at Clonmel.

Bachasson has been a fantastic servant to his connections
Bachasson has been a fantastic servant to his connections (Alan Magee/PA)

Patrick Mullins, assistant to his father, said: “Bachasson has won 16 races in total and won his last six. He has never won over three miles, although he did run in a Gold Cup and I don’t see why it should be a problem.

“The bigger worry is maybe coming back quick after a long lay-off, but he seems to have come out of his Clonmel race very well and no doubt he will run well again.

“He has been an incredible horse and is a real yard favourite. Usually as (grey) horses get older they get white but he seems to be a Peter Pan and a steel grey which is quite unusual.”

Of Chacun Pour Soi, he added: “He is stepping up to three miles and it is a little bit of a shot in the dark. He has to give away an awful lot of weight, which won’t make life easy on him either.

“But Chacun Pour Soi has won at Cork before so we are just hoping he can get somewhere back to his best form as he doesn’t seem to be at his best this season so far.”

The Mullins pair head a five-strong field, with Ronald Pump (Ciaran Murphy), Feronily (Emmet Mullins) and The Little Yank (John Ryan) completing the quintet.

Punchestown Gold Cup winner Kemboy is retired

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Willie Mullins has announced the retirement of multiple Grade One-winning chaser Kemboy.

The 11-year-old burst onto the staying chase scene with a stunning victory in the 2018 Savills Chase at Leopardstown and while he came to grief shortly after the first fence in that season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, he subsequently blew his rivals away in the Bowl at Aintree.

Kemboy is perhaps best remembered for his victory in the following month’s Punchestown Gold Cup as he gave Ruby Walsh the perfect send-off by getting better of Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning stablemate Al Boum Photo, a performance which ensured he ended the season as the highest-rated horse in training.

The French-bred gelding has found victories harder to come by since, but did add the 2021 Irish Gold Cup to his CV and ended a two-year losing streak in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse in February.

In all, Kemboy won 10 of his 36 career starts and earned his connections more than £800,000 in win and place prize-money.

“The decision has been made to retire Kemboy,” Mullins told www.sportinglife.com

“He gave us some great days over the years, winning the Bobbyjo Chase this term and Grade Ones at Leopardstown, Aintree and Punchestown during a tremendous career. He’s been a great servant to the yard and connections.

“Ruby Walsh retired after winning the Punchestown Gold Cup on him and now it’s Kemboy’s time to bow out. I hope he has a long and healthy retirement.”

In all Kemboy won 10 of his 36 career starts and earned his connections more than £800,000 in win and place prize-money.

Bumper double takes Mullins over 200 Irish winners for the season

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Willie Mullins enjoyed a landmark afternoon as he registered an across-the-card bumper double at Limerick and Naas, bringing up his 200th winner of the season in Ireland in the process.

The horse to give the champion trainer the double century was Junta Marvel (85-40), who made a successful debut in the Storms The Stars @ Coolagown Stud Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race at Limerick.

JP McManus-owned point-to-point victor Bioluminescence was the 5-4 favourite, but Junta Marvel saw her off by two and half lengths in the hands of Patrick Mullins.

“It was a good performance,” said the record-breaking amateur.

“She was a little keen early on but we got to pick a nice strip of ground. Being by Masked Marvel, she loved the ground and while we hoped to have her ready for a Listed bumper, she could still make the Grade Three mares’ bumper at Punchestown next month.

“That’s 200 wins for the yard this season, our best was 212 so hopefully we can beat that.

“We’ve had a brilliant season and it’s not over yet with Fairyhouse, Aintree and Punchestown ahead.”

It did not take long for the Mullins camp to make it 201, with Mirazur West justifying market confidence in the Nursery Of Champions INH Flat Race at Naas.

The Westerner gelding looked set to win a point-to-point at Dromahane in November when falling at the final fence under Derek O’Connor, who was again on board for his debut under rules.

Carrying the McManus silks, Mirazur West was all the rage as the 1-2 favourite, despite facing a point-to-point winner and £360,000 purchase in Henry de Bromhead’s Mahon’s Way, and made every yard of the running on his way to a two-and-a-half-length success.

He’s My Hero, who set his connections back £120,000 after finishing second in the point-to-point sphere, narrowly beat Mahon’s Way to the runner-up spot.

Hero’s welcome for Galopin Des Champs, as locals salute Gold Cup winner

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Galopin Des Champs was given the reception he so richly deserved as the Cheltenham Gold Cup hero enjoyed a homecoming parade through the village of Leighlinbridge on Tuesday evening.

For a long time it looked like Willie Mullins – the most successful trainer in Festival history – was destined to never claim the showpiece meeting’s most prestigious prize after saddling the runner-up on no less than six occasions.

Al Boum Photo put that to bed with victory in 2019, though, and for good measure successfully defended his crown 12 months later.

Galopin Des Champs lined up for this year’s renewal as a red-hot favourite, with his only defeat in six previous outings over fences coming at last year’s Festival when he came to grief at the final fence with the Turners’ Novices’ Chase at his mercy.

Galopin Des Champs along with trainer Willie Mullins during the homecoming parade through the village of Leighlinbridge in County Carlow
Galopin Des Champs along with trainer Willie Mullins during the homecoming parade through the village of Leighlinbridge in County Carlow (Niall Carson/PA)

Following previous wins this season in the John Durkan at Punchestown and the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, the seven-year-old stamped his class on his return to Prestbury Park with a comprehensive defeat of King George winner Bravemansgame under an ice-cool ride from Paul Townend.

Just as they did after Al Boum Photo’s first triumph four years ago, the Leighlinbridge locals turned out in force to give Galopin Des Champs a hero’s welcome, with Mullins, Townend and owner Audrey Turley also on hand to receive the acclaim of the crowd.

Mullins said: “We’d had six seconds before (Al Boum Photo), and I was resigned to never winning it.

“Al Boum Photo did that job for us, then he won another one it was fantastic to get Galopin Des Champs for Audrey and Greg Turley.

“We thought when he won the Martin Pipe (at the Festival in 2021) that we had a really good horse and he could be Gold Cup material. It was more hope we had a Gold Cup horse than thought we had one.

Galopin Des Champs and his owner Audrey Turley with Willie Mullins
Galopin Des Champs and his owner Audrey Turley with Willie Mullins (Niall Carson/PA)

“His novice hurdling career went very well and his novice chasing career went very well, albeit the slip-up at the last fence in Cheltenham last year. He came back and won the Grade One Ryanair at Fairyhouse – every time we asked him a bigger question, he answered it.

“He’s a horse who was improving all the time and at his age we knew there was a lot more improvement to come.”

The three and a quarter miles of the Gold Cup was unchartered territory, but Mullins said: “I didn’t (doubt his stamina), he showed me as a novice hurdler over three miles at Punchestown – if a horse of that age can do that over three miles, there’s every chance he will go further as an older horse.

“I had faith in the horse, that he wouldn’t burn himself off too early – he was inclined to over-race a little bit as a younger horse, but we’ve concentrated on settling him and Paul has done a great job.

“We had a lot of things going for us going into the race, we (just) needed a bit of luck – everyone needs that.”

Townend both delighted and relieved after a fruitful Festival

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Paul Townend reflected on another successful Cheltenham Festival that saw him cap his leading rider title with a third Gold Cup victory aboard Galopin Des Champs.

Townend and trainer Willie Mullins had previously landed the blue riband with Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020 and Galopin Des Champs’ seven-length triumph over Bravemansgame leaves Townend needing just one more win to equal Pat Taaffe as the most successful rider in the race’s history.

Galopin Des Champs had dominated the Gold Cup market from an early stage and that confidence proved justified as he put a last-fence fall in the 2022 Turners Novices’ Chase well behind him with an impressive triumph.

Townend ranks the seven-year-old as one of his best mounts – although he holds Al Boum Photo in high esteem after his Festival strikes – but admitted he felt the pressure ahead of the main event.

Paul Townend at Thurles on Saturday
Paul Townend at Thurles on Saturday (PA)

He said: “Every winner in Cheltenham is special but the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup and it has an extra spice about it, with plenty of pressure riding a horse being so well fancied. It was brilliant the way it worked out.

“I thought the start was a bit of a joke to be honest, for a Gold Cup, as we were on the back foot as there were horses jumping left and right and into me, which made him (Galopin Des Champs) become a bit careful. All credit to him for coming back down from the air and into a rhythm and bar the third-last he was pretty good on the final circuit.

“At Leopardstown, I gave him a few flicks and he took off for me and yesterday he galloped out through the line and I actually had to stop him – it was a huge, huge performance.

“He is right up there with the best of the horses I’ve ridden, but Al Boum won two though.”

Paul Townend and Willie Mullins celebrate with the Gold Cup
Paul Townend and Willie Mullins celebrate with the Gold Cup (David Davies/PA)

Townend was crowned top jockey for a third time, with Mullins picking up a 10th trainer’s accolade with the pair securing five victories together, while the handler enjoyed a sixth success with his son Patrick.

The team struck Grade One gold with the likes of Arkle runner El Fabiolo, Champion Chase victor Energumene, Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle scorer Impaire Et Passe and Triumph Hurdle victor Lossiemouth, who led home a one-two-three-four for Mullins.

Townend added: “It was brilliant, a good meeting. It’s nice to be leading rider there – I suppose you’re kind of expected to be when you’re riding for Willie with the ammunition he brings over, but it doesn’t always work out like that.”

Flame Bearer reignites with Pierce Molony victory

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Flame Bearer turned in a fine round of jumping to regain the winning thread in the Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase at Thurles.

Representing the Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning team of Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, Flame Bearer was sent off the 11-10 favourite for this Grade Three affair despite having suffered defeat on his two most recent starts.

He proved no match for his stablemate El Fabiolo – victorious in the Arkle on Tuesday – while the reopposing Indiana Jones had him back in third in the Flyingbolt Novice Chase at Navan at the start of the month.

However, in receipt of 7lb from that rival this time around, Flame Bearer made no mistakes, travelling supremely well for Townend before grabbing the lead turning for home.

He fairly cantered clear and took the last with plenty in hand, eventually coming home a 13-length winner over Upping The Anti, with Indiana Jones only fourth.

Paul Townend said: “I thought after he ran the last day that he would be better left go along (in front) and he got into a better rhythm jumping.

“He still needs to brush up a bit, but he knows where his feet are and he likes being left to do that.

“He has a mistake in him, but he warmed up to it quite well and turned around form with Indiana Jones “

Mullins and Townend crowned once more at Cheltenham

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Galopin Des Champs’ Gold Cup victory proved the jewel in the crown as Willie Mullins and Paul Townend once again secured the top trainer and jockey honours at the Cheltenham Festival.

The duo endured a sticky start to the week when favourite Facile Vega was turned over in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but the winners soon started to flow with El Fabiolo getting the duo off the mark for the week in the Arkle.

Mullins enjoyed a second victory on Tuesday as his son Patrick steered Gaillard Du Mesnil to the National Hunt Chase, while Wednesday’s card produced two further wins for the Mullins-Townend axis as Impaire Et Passe bossed the Ballymore and Energumene was too good in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Galopin Des Champs emerged victorious in the Gold Cup
Galopin Des Champs emerged victorious in the Gold Cup (Mike Egerton/PA)

The Closutton team drew a rare blank on Thursday, but Lossiemouth had them smiling again after victory in Friday’s Triumph Hurdle, before Galopin Des Champs justified market confidence with a clear-cut Gold Cup verdict.

Townend’s five winners mean he is now the most successful active jockey at the Festival with 28 victories and a third top jockey title, while Mullins is streets ahead of his fellow trainers in having saddled 94 winners overall at the meeting. He has been the fixture’s top trainer on 10 occasions now.

Patrick Mullins, representing his father, said: “To win the Gold Cup and the Champion Chase, they are half of the major races so that was fantastic. Galopin Des Champs winning the Gold Cup though really was the cherry on the top.

“Six winners is probably where we need to be hitting at least. The amount of horses we have and the standard we have, we needed to do everything we did this week.

“Last year was just one of those years after Covid and everything and we were never going to match that total of 10.

“Taking the Gold Cup and Champion Chase while El Fabiolo (Arkle) and Impaire Et Passe (Ballymore) look like they could be anything so we were very pleased to see them win as well. Galopin Des Champs really was the big one and thankfully he delivered.”

Impervious was one of two Friday winners for JP McManus
Impervious was one of two Friday winners for JP McManus (Tim Goode/PA)

JP McManus finished the week as the leading owner, with Impervious and Iroko giving him two victories on the final day, although Sire Du Berlais’ shock 33-1 success in Thursday’s Stayers’ Hurdle was the highlight.

He said: “We finished strong which was great. You never know how you are going to get on as it is very competitive here. You are hoping to get a winner or two and it was nice to get off the board on Wednesday night.

“The Stayers’ Hurdle was a lovely race to win and to finish off with the Martin Pipe was great and we topped it off winning the Mares’ Chase. It has been wonderful. Any time you get a winner, they are really precious and they were all very special in fairness.”

The Prestbury Cup – the annual competition between British and Irish trainers – was sealed on Thursday with victory once again going to the raiding party.

Irish handlers ended the meeting with 18 victories, with the British team landing 10 – equalling the 2022 result.

‘I was amazed how much it meant to me’ – Mullins admits he was feeling the pressure

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Willie Mullins might have won just about everything this great sport has to offer – but the most successful trainer in Festival history admitted to feeling a level of pressure he has never previously experienced ahead of Galopin Des Champs’ victory in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The master of Closutton has made Prestbury Park his own in recent years, with his tally of 88 victories at National Hunt racing’s showpiece leaving him head and shoulders above his contemporaries ahead of his latest raid on the Cotswolds.

The Gold Cup, the most coveted prize of all, was the one that eluded Mullins for so long – but Al Boum Photo broke that particular hoodoo in 2019 and successfully defended his crown 12 months later.

Having also collected four Champion Hurdles and back-to-back wins in the Queen Mother Champion Chase with Energumene, Mullins is well used to big-race success at this stage and is rarely flustered – but he revealed he was feeling the nerves both before and during his latest bid for Gold Cup glory.

Galopin Des Champs was a brilliant winner of the Gold Cup
Galopin Des Champs was a brilliant winner of the Gold Cup (David Davies/Jockey Club/PA)

“I think what stands out is the pressure I put myself under. I was surprised actually coming to the third-last how much I started to feel it,” he said.

“When he went through the third-last and I saw Paul (Townend) back on the bridle again I thought ‘wow, this could happen’, and I was amazed how much it meant to me. I didn’t think it would.

“The pressure was coming from the fact that we had so much confidence in the horse. We nominated him for the Gold Cup, we thought we had a Gold Cup horse and lot of people were saying he wasn’t because he has too much speed and no stamina.

“There was pressure because we disagreed with everyone. So many people said he wouldn’t stay, which surprised me.

“It was our word against others and it wasn’t like he was a 10-1 shot. He was a hot favourite and people backed him in the belief that I was right, I suppose.”

Not for the first time, Mullins was proved spot-on in his assertion that Galopin Des Champs possessed more than enough staying power to win the blue riband.

Given the coolest of cool rides by Paul Townend, the 7-5 market leader breezed into contention racing down the hill and pulled seven lengths clear of a valiant King George winner in Bravemansgame from the final fence in brilliant style.

With Galopin Des Champs providing him with his 94th Festival success, Mullins will be short odds to pass the century in the Gold Cup’s centenary year next March.

At this stage he could be forgiven for taking it all for granted, but insists even he struggles to comprehend the position he finds himself in.

“It’s mind blowing. I can’t comprehend the numbers we have in training at home and I can’t comprehend the quality we have – it’s something no one ever dreamt of,” said Mullins.

“At one stage the top-rated horse I had was a 126-rated hurdler, which we nearly wouldn’t have in the yard now. We had 20 or 30 horses at the time and he was our Saturday horse.

“On the day I got my licence, if someone said to me I’d have 60 horses for the rest of my training career, I’d have grabbed that because none of the top trainers had more than 60 – Fulke Walwyn, Fred Winter, The Duke (David Nicholson), all those.

“You were lucky if you got a Grade One horse every year or you might get one every two years. What is in Closutton every day now – every night I go through the barns and pinch myself.

“We don’t take it for granted. Myself and my wife Jackie know what we have and we’re in awe of it as much as all you guys are.”

The ride produced by Townend, also winning his third Gold Cup following his successive wins aboard Al Boum Photo, was widely hailed on course as one of the best in the race’s recent history.

Paul Townend after winning his third Gold Cup
Paul Townend after winning his third Gold Cup (Steven Paston/PA)

While many of his rivals jostled for an early position, Galopin Des Champs was kept out of the heat of battle until the last possible moment, although the jockey admitted it was not entirely by design.

He said: “I suppose he got me out of trouble to be honest – the first circuit didn’t go smoothly. He got into a nice rhythm on the second circuit and showed a lot of class to come from where he did.

“I was further back than I wanted to be after a messy start and a messy couple of jumps early, but luckily when I came down the hill and put the bit up in his mouth, he came alive underneath me.

“I had full belief in the horse. This year he has matured a lot and his work had been very good. He showed his true ability today.

“From where I was, I was always going to be the last one on the scene, luckily we met the last on a good stride and he galloped on through the line.

“I’m lucky to be throwing my leg over horses like this. The hardest thing in this game is to get on the horses. There’s a lot of lads capable of doing it and I’m in a fortunate position.”

Lossiemouth puts the record straight in Triumph Hurdle

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St Patrick’s Day got off to a raucous start for the legions of Irish racing fans at Cheltenham as Lossiemouth easily justified favouritism in the JCB Triumph Hurdle.

Trainer Willie Mullins saddled no less than seven of the 15 runners and he had the first four home, with the grey becoming just the fifth filly in history to take the prize.

Though Gala Marceau – conqueror of Lossiemouth at the Dublin Racing Festival – stayed on well to take second spot from Zenta, the race was over once the 11-8 market leader cruised up on the bridle to take it up after jumping the penultimate flight and she was eased to a two-and-a-quarter-length success at the line.

Gust Of Wind completed the Mullins quartet, with jockey Paul Townend recording his fourth winner of the week.

It was the Closutton handler’s third win in the race in four years, having previously struck with Burning Victory in 2020 and Vauban last year.

Mullins said: “She travelled into the race at maybe the five-furlong marker and rather than fighting her Paul just let her gallop and held onto her as much as he could for a long as he could.

“He thought she was actually idling come up the straight and thinks there is a little bit more in the tank – she looks a star mare.

“But for the traffic problems in Leopardstown she’d be unbeaten for us. I’m very happy with how they all ran, bar Blood Destiny (finished ninth) who was disappointing. I don’t know what happened to him, but all the rest ran their race.

“It’s a nice start to the day.”

Asked whether Lossiemouth could be a candidate for next year’s Champion Hurdle, Mullins added: “She’s a possibility the way she came up that hill there anyway. There’s every possibility that she’ll go down that route.”

Delighted owner Rich Ricci, celebrating his 20th Festival winner, said: “I felt unlucky on the day after her last run and I’m delighted the one who beat us that day was second as it franks the form. She’s a lovely filly with a lot of scope, she’s National Hunt bred and is very nice.

“Paul said coming down the hill she wanted to crack on, he held on to her just enough, she filled up and she responded to him which is great as it shows maturity. He said when he let him go she was great.

Paul Townend celebrates
Paul Townend celebrates (Tim Goode/PA)

“I glad for Paul as Willie hammered him the last day. For the record I didn’t think it was Paul’s fault I thought the tactics were wrong so it’s Willie’s fault actually! Willie had his best Jose Mourinho moment and found someone else to blame, but on the day Paul was gutted. Sport is about redemption, I always say that.

“It’s great to be a part of this, Tuesday was such a special day with Honeysuckle and Constitution Hill Hill, then yesterday with Henry (de Bromhead) winning on the day there was a race named after Jack (de Bromhead), it’s a very special week.

“To have a winner is special, it’s our 20th winner but you never take it for granted, we’ve had enough losers.”

Of Gala Marceau, owner Kenny Alexander said: “She has run an absolute blinder. We beat the winner last time at Leopardstown, so there will have to be a rematch.

“I will definitely not be scared to take her on again and that will probably be at Punchestown, all being well, at the end of next month.”