Mag can vroum

COMING away from Cheltenham a few years back, one of the beaten horses to go into the notebook was the Mag Mullins-trained Travino, after being placed in what is now the Albert Bartlett Hurdle. He sadly never had luck afterwards.

This year Mag again was responsible for one of the most impressive ‘losers’ in the shape of Champion Bumper runner-up Debuchet. Hopefully he’ll progress and return for a novice hurdle next year because he could be exciting.

Aussie insight

SUFFERING from post-Cheltenham trauma last week, I watched the ATR Australian coverage of Rosehill and Flemington. Winx was again the star, strolling to her 16th consecutive wins. There was also the delight of the connections of the Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign. It made for an entertaining few hours.

One notable element was how accommodating the Aussie jockeys are to the media. Before the races, one of the presenting team (on horseback) circled with the runners behind the stalls, chatting even before the Group 1 races, asking how the horses had moved to post and how they felt.

It was an extra insight and would be interesting before big-race coverage in Europe but how our jockeys would react would be another matter. Over to you, Francesca?

A horse in the family

THE Australian coverage also included a hugely entertaining interview with trainer Udyta Clarke after her charge Rich Charm had just won at Flemington.

“He thinks I’m his mother, he does. He says, don’t leave me, stay with me, carries on like a little child.

“If you went down to the tie-up stalls now and he didn’t see me, he’s be jumping up and down, calling, screaming like a child.”

Do any Irish trainers have that relationship with their runners?