IN a previous interview for this newspaper, Ruby Walsh couldn’t hide his excitement about a horse that had yet to win a Grade 1 and had never jumped a fence in public.

He could barely contain himself, the grin splitting his face like a child that has been just brought to his first toy shop. Un De Sceaux. He could not wait.

The build-up for the chasing debut was of the type normally reserved for Cheltenham Grade 1 winners and yet Un De Sceaux had never even competed at the highest level.

That tells you how the horse has seized the imagination and everything since then has just added to the lore. Even the tumble he took in Thurles on that first run over the bigger obstacles. It is another factor in the discussion about just how good the Denham Red gelding is or might be.

“If he stays up,” is the proviso, which is actually terribly unfair. That suggests a flaw in jumping and if you analyse it, he doesn’t make mistakes. He has only run in three chases, so he’s still learning about the benefits of getting up close every now and then but as Walsh said after last Sunday’s Irish Arkle victory, he’s going to have to go long at Cheltenham.

No, the question mark about a clear round really is a reference to the breakneck speed at which he operates. If Denman was known as ‘The Tank’, Un De Sceaux is ‘The Runaway Train’.

His exuberance shines through and so you find yourself peeking out at him through your fingers. Imagine what he must have been like before they got some kind of handle on him!

As the white flag was raised in Thurles, this observer had the same knot in his stomach usually reserved for when the horses circling at the start in the Cheltenham opener, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Or maybe the Champion Hurdle.

Imagine how the owners felt! Willie Mullins keeps reminding us that while the gelding’s successes might appear bloodless, his style of racing means he is very hard on himself. Well he is hard on his followers and especially connections too. It must be torture.

“Yeah, it is,” admits Colm O’Connell, son of owner, Eddie. “I found Thurles worse because you just want him to get around safe.

“We buy horses to compete. I have a thing where I’d rather be last in the Gold Cup than first in a beginners’ chase in Mallow. To have a horse to go to Cheltenham, or to Leopardstown in a Grade 1, there’s no shame in the finishing position. You’ve competed at the very highest level. When I walked into Leopardstown the last day, I said no matter what happened, we were having our first ever Grade 1 runner.

“If we got to Cheltenham and he’s favourite, there’ll be a load of punters on him and best of luck to them, but from our perspective, we’re thinking of the thrill of taking part in Cheltenham.

“Very few horses get to take part at the highest level. If you win, that’s a bonus. You’re in it to win it of course. But other owners have a lot of horses and they’re used to winning but we’re still getting used to taking part.

“I just think it’s hilarious that the papers are even printing that we’re going to Cheltenham. I’m looking at Betfair and he’s 4/5 and I’m thinking it’s unbelievable. We must be going so!”

It’s a dream come true. That is why Colm texted Willie Mullins and his son Patrick, as well as Ruby Walsh last Saturday night thanking them for the opportunity to run in a Grade 1.

UNCROWNED

This is the mindset they still carry. Even now, you have pundits that consider Un De Sceaux to be the uncrowned champion hurdler of 2014. O’Connell insists that there wasn’t even a millisecond where he thought or thinks about what might have been, or questioned the decision not to go.

“If Willie said there was a race on in the moon we’d say that’s fine. We signed the cheque but he’s his horse. We’re along for the ride.

“It’s remarkable because this time last year, there was a tidal wave of pressure to go to Cheltenham, especially after he won so well in Navan, and then he went to the Red Mills and skated up there.

“Willie just said ‘Look, I think he’ll benefit from having another year and maturing’ and they’re the calls. I always said it that 12 months on people would know that that was a phenomenal decision and to be honest, it was.

“I think people miss the point. It’s fine to say he would have won the Champions Hurdle but I think it would have been very short-sighted of everyone. You’re presuming an awful lot. I think it was a phenomenal decision.

“We’ve had horses all our lives but nothing like this and nothing better than a handicap hurdler. To go from that to our first Grade 1 winner. For it to be talked about; ‘Do you feel a bit peed off about not going to Cheltenham?’ We were struggling to get into a handicap chase in Killarney. So no, we certainly don’t.

“If Willie, Ruby and Patrick (Mullins) got together and said they think it’s the right decision, no way… you’d be off your game to question it.”

Instead, Un De Sceaux was sent to Auteuil twice and won. O’Connell texted the trainer to thank him. Decision vindicated. He is certain that the lads were travelling home from Leopardstown last week saying the same thing.

“Cheltenham would destroy ya, if you’re not mature enough. So many horses have won savage races there; you wait for them the following year and they just don’t produce.

“This year, it’s another day, another scenario and you just don’t know. My involvement in the whole thing will be in the parade ring 15 minutes before it and hopefully in the parade ring 12 minutes after.”

He jokes that he gets a call from Caitriona in the office telling him the time of a race and who’s riding. He gets the bill and he pays it. Happily.

He will call Willie once a month to ask how the two boys are - Turban was their first horse with the Closutton maestro, although the number is now at three, with a four-year-old having joined the ranks.

O’Connell is a successful businessman. O’Connell Group, established by Eddie, comprises 11 companies operating in logistics, warehousing and containers. Business is about short conversations and quick decisions and Mullins suits them to a tee.

“We’re all dealing in business all our life and I think he’s the most genuine, most honourable, decent solid man you could come across. He’s in it for the team. There’s logic behind it. You could call, he’ll answer the phone. It’s always straight talk. There’s no hidden agendas or anything. He’s a phenomenal person to know.

“To be honest with you, in racing you need straight talk. In the business world, it’s full of straight talk. Five-minute decisions and move on. That’s what appeals to us with Willie.”

Eddie O’Connell has dabbled in horses for 30 years or so and he owned two nice point-to-pointers with Trevor Horgan in recent years. He was happy enough operating in that sphere for a while but the hankering to step it up a notch eventually surfaced. So he approached Mullins.

ECSTATIC

“Eddie said ‘Willie, would you find me a Festival horse?’ And he did. In fairness, even Turban turned out to be a Festival horse. People say you’ve great luck with Un De Sceaux but we’ve fabulous luck with Turban. He’s paid for himself over again. When he won the Dan Moore, Willie said that was his Gold Cup. We were ecstatic. That’s the team up there. They’re so driven to getting winners on the board.

“It was a remarkable piece of luck. Willie has commented on it, he vetted four or five horses and they all failed. Un De Sceaux was number six or something. You need luck but you trust that man. We all see the money horses make, hundreds of thousands. We didn’t have that.

“We got a call from Willie saying he’d found a horse for us that had passed the vet and a wire transfer was needed. We did it in an hour. That was our involvement. We couldn’t take an inch of credit for it.

“When you’re looking for a nice horse, you’re going to get what Willie thinks is a nice horse and that’s half the battle.”

O’Connell has met the French breeder and knows that the horse’s name refers to the village in which he was reared (One from Sceaux) but when it comes to the story’s individuality, he swears that he knows as much as the rest of us and gleans it from the papers.

“I think the reason people have taken to him so much is the small owner who hasn’t been here before. He has so many quirks that you read about. He likes to be isolated on his own, he goes out in the gallops on his own.

“I walk into to the box and he’s placid as can be. But this ferocious gallop that he does, he’s been doing it from the start. Howard Kirk and Pierre Bouillard spotted him in France and that’s what they bought into. I suppose they thought he might settle but I think they’ve given up on that idea.

“People talk about his quirkiness but I’m reading the same as yourself. I wouldn’t get into it, that level of detail. I suppose I don’t really want to know. If I start hearing that he likes listening to AC/DC an hour before the race I’ll be worrying ‘Jesus, I hope the tape recorder is working’. So the least I know about what goes on the better.”

He worries and daydreams. He jokes about hoping the O’Connell Group’s profit margins aren’t affected by the daydreaming being done at HQ by himself and the lads. He would never dictate to Mullins about anything. There was only one ground rule laid down last autumn.

“Willie rang there around September or October when I knew they were going back into the training. I was in a meeting and I left it, shaking.

“‘Is he alright?’

“‘Oh he’s grand.”

“I was going ‘Lord Jesus, thank God’. So I said ‘Listen, in future if you ring me, first thing out of your mouth is ‘He’s grand’. We’ll talk about anything after that!”

Thurles was disappointing. He overjumped more than anything and came down. The disappointment though was for the horse, that he would not go through his career unbeaten. But Ted Walsh threw his arms around them in the parade ring afterwards and reminded them that even the great Kauto Star and Moscow Flyer came a cropper.

They’re trying not to think about Cheltenham now, but they cannot help it. Sunday confirmed that it was a journey they would be making but they still do not want to take anything for granted.

No flights have been booked yet but when the decision is finally made, Colm is expecting a strong contingent.

The blue and orange scarves were plentiful around Stillorgan on Sunday, with ages of family and friends from two-years-old upwards in attendance.

Indeed, so popular are the scarves that they receive emails at head office wondering if there’s any chance of having one sent out. Thinking it’s gas craic altogether, the O’Connells promptly do so.

“The public likes something different. In hurling or football or any types of sport. They take to something that’s different and he’s different in every way.”

The bottom line is he is just thankful. He appreciates Clarcam’s owner, Michael O’Leary coming over and congratulating them after the race last Sunday. He appreciates the love that comes from the public, a growing momentum towards what Un De Sceaux’s legendary stablemate, Hurricane Fly probably had to wait 19 Grade 1s to receive.

He is deeply appreciative of the work the Closutton team does. To the French vet (Virginnie Bascop), who rides Un De Sceaux out and has worked the miracles to get make him raceable.

“Un De Sceaux is her horse. Our name is on the horse but he’s actually her horse.”

Team Mullins. Patrick, Ruby. And Willie.

“So many football managers are admired hugely for what they do, for managing 30 or 40 footballers. Willie is managing 120 athletes a day and getting them all to win every week. It’s mind-blowing.”

Hang on tight and enjoy the ride.