WITH Willie Mullins set to be crowned champion trainer in Ireland for the 15th time at the conclusion of the Punchestown Festival, his focus is firmly on the home Festival where he has enjoyed an even greater level of success over recent years.
Having brought his Cheltenham Festival tally of winners to 78 as he left Prestbury Park with the leading trainer title, he reports his team still in top order for the Kildare finale where he took home six of the Grade 1s in 2019.
“There is fantastic prize money so we are not putting them out to grass just yet. They’ll get plenty of grass in the summer!
“It has surprised me as well over the years that, after going to Leopardstown at Christmas, Cheltenham, maybe Aintree and some of them maybe back to Fairyhouse, that they can still perform so well.
“Punchestown is what we always look forward to. There is huge prize money, fantastic racing, they always produce great ground and just the amphitheatre of Punchestown itself,” he said this week.
“I love going up there on the Sunday before the Festival to walk the track and just looking back on the track from the top of the hill, it is just an amazing place.
“I often think there is no racetrack like it in the world when you see it laid out for five days racing and all the different rails that are set up. It’s just amazing and the whole concept of the Punchestown Festival is huge when you see the work and preparation that goes into it.
“Prize money is key to any sport, I think. The new Punchestown is a different ball game altogether, my father would have been delighted to be training nowadays to see the facilities and the ground that they produce.
“We don’t take that for granted, we are delighted and maybe as surprised as other people looking because you don’t expect your horses to be at top level coming into the last month of the year but we’ve often found that horses might even put in their best performance all year there.
“They all get a break after whatever big Festival and everyone has their different ways of giving their horses a break but you’ve got to get back into them then and make sure they are all good and have enough done.
“The different members of staff that ride the horses are able to tell me and give me feedback and with their feedback and our own eyes we make decisions and they can work.”
Mullins went through a few of his Grade 1 contenders which will see many stable companions take each other on.
Appreciate It (31/3112-1111)
Blue Lord (123F)
Echoes In Rain (5-1411)
eCOMM Merchant Solutions
Champion Novice Hurdle (Grade 1)
Appreciate It has surprised me. I never dreamt he had that much speed but he jumps, he gallops as well. He probably takes a lot of speed out of horses with the cruising speed he has as well and will definitely go.
Blue Lord is in there as well and he was going to run a fantastic race at Cheltenham before he fell at the last. I think he will improve for the flatter track and the nicer ground we will have at Punchestown.
Echoes In Rain is interesting. She will probably go for the mares’ race but her performance in Fairyhouse was very good and she is in on Tuesday getting a nice fillies’ allowance so we’ll see.
Allaho (/413/2213-6411)
Chacun Pour Soi (53/1/121-1113)
Cilaos Emery (1/42/1/11F14-218)
William Hill Champion Chase (Grade 1)
At the moment I’m looking at the race for Allaho. I’d just like to see what he can do over two miles, he jumps so efficiently and so well, that is where my head is at the moment.
I love horses that jump as quick as him and if you can jump that quick usually you can come back in trip a bit. I think Allaho has the jumping technique to jump with two-milers and he gallops well enough, we all saw that in Cheltenham.
It’s worth a crack I think, we’ve got to ask the question in Punchestown and then we will know where we want to go next year.
I just didn’t think we made enough use of Chacun Pour Soi [in the Champion Chase]. Maybe our tactics just let us down on the day. It is easy be wise afterwards. I think this is the natural race for him. There will be plenty of pace on and Cilaos Emery will probably go there as well so we will be well represented.
Allaho is likely to drop back to two miles \ Healy Racing
Monkfish (/1/22111-1111
Colreevy (/12125-1111)
Franco De Port (1/172P-11252)
Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase (Grade 1)
Monkfish didn’t jump with the same flair and he didn’t gallop with the same flair [at Cheltenham] but he’ll go for the three-mile race.
Colreevy has been covered by Walk In The Park and she will go. That will probably be her last run. The Flynns are out-and-out breeders and she is a fantastic-looking mare and hopefully she’ll be lucky.
From winning the Arkle at Christmas over two miles I think I’m going to put Franco De Port in over three miles for and that will tell us where we are going next year.
Monkfish will bid to complet a Festival double in the Champion Novices Chase over three miles \ Healy Racing
Al Boum Photo (1O/11/211-13)
Kemboy (1U1/1427-2219)
Melon (42F/702142-335P)
Easy Game (/7212F-01127U1)
Ladbrokes Gold Cup (Grade 1)
Lots of people could say that Al Boum Photo’s run might have been good enough to win the last two Gold Cups and he just met two good horses on the day. I’m not saying he’d have won the Gold Cup but I thought he could have run better, maybe he didn’t fire as well as he has.
Certainly the last five jumps weren’t as strong as they were last year. He has worked well in the meantime and I’m happy with him where he is at the moment.
Kemboy worked very well the other morning, I was very pleased with him and I’m finding it hard to find a race for Easy Game so he will probably take his chance.
Energumene (1/311-111)
Ryanair Novice Chase (Grade 1)
Energumene had a little mishap before Cheltenham and I thought that was him for the season but he recovered quickly. I was trying to get him ready for Fairyhouse and then I felt it wasn’t fair on the horse to go to Fairyhouse so I said I’d wait for Punchestown and he’s been fine since so I’m looking forward to him.
Kilcruit (2-112)
Sir Gerhard (1-111)
Ramillies (1/4-158)
The ITM – Supporting Irish Store Sales Champion Bumper (Grade 1)
I imagine Kilcruit will run, Sir Gerhard will run and we have a few more there. Ramillies is a horse whose homework is good. It might not be as good as the other two but it is good and I still think there is a good horse lurking in there somewhere and it has to come out. Maybe a change of track and a flat track like Punchestown might bring it out in him. I think the track might suit Kilcruit better so we’ll see. It’ll be different and worth watching anyway.
Sharjah (311B/4162-132)
James Du Berlais (6212-1212129)
Paddy Power Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)
Sharjah ran a fantastic race in Cheltenham. I don’t think he could have improved much more. He’ll go for the Paddy Power Champion Hurdle. I’ve got James Du Berlais, Klassical Dream and Saldier in that race as well and we’ll see what way they go.
James Du Berlais disappointed me at Cheltenham as his homework was way better than that. He holds entries in the two-mile and the three-mile hurdles so we’ll see when they do their final bits of work which direction they go.