RUBY REIGNS TO WILLIE’S RELIEF
Mullins’ Douvan disappointment is put aside as Walsh delivers with a fab four
AT MIDDAY yesterday, Willie Mullins got word that his old school, Cistercian College, Roscrea, had been rescued from closure. Ninety minutes later, his Festival was rescued too.
The imperious Yorkhill in the JLT Chase launched a stunning Mullins comeback in the chilly Cotswolds on a day of days for Irish horses.
Every 40 minutes, like clockwork, the throaty roars grew in the vantage points overlooking the winner’s enclosure as triumphant Irish horses returned to acclaim and the bookies dashed for cover.
There were six Irish winners in a row — seven if you count the last on Wednesday — with Mullins saddling the fab four of Yorkhill, Un De Sceaux, Nichols Canyon and Let’s Dance, all ridden by the peerless Ruby Walsh.
Between them, the quartet scooped up the three Grade One prizes on the card, plus the only Grade Two, as King Willie wheeled away a barrow loaded with over €400,000.
As a plus, the win of Let’s Dance netted the Closutton stable staff a well-deserved bonus of €50,000 after previously winning a Grade Two race in Leopardstown.
When someone suggested the dough should be put behind the bar in the Lord Bagenal in Leighlinbridge, Mullins quipped: ‘It wouldn’t last long there.’
For Team Mullins, relief and exultation flowed like twin rivulets, merging in a pool of professional pleasure as their reputation was restored with a spectacular 179/1 four-timer.
They returned to the battlefield on day three, square of jaw and sharp of blade — it was the only way to be. As Davy Russell observed ‘negativity around here doesn’t work’.
As the commander-in-chief, Mullins was content the props he had put in place remained sturdy and the ‘blip’ of Monday and Tuesday could be banished.
‘We sat down last night, thought about it, and felt there can’t be anything wrong with the horses. They were running well and Douvan was our only real disappointment. I thought of Yorkhill today and how much it would mean to get on the board. That’s all I wanted to do,’ he said.
Just as he was magnanimous in defeat, so he refused to beat his chest as he smashed the 50-winner mark at the Festival, only the second trainer to do so after Nicky Henderson.
‘People expect us to have winners, we hope to. If it was easy there would be no pressure, no fun. We don’t have a God-given right to win all the races,’ he stressed.
‘It must be one of our best days, it can’t get much better than that,’ he added.
It could, if Mullins, only one behind Gordon Elliott for the Festival trainer’s title and with Djakadam to come in today’s Gold Cup, finished top trainer for the fifth year in a row.
‘We’ll see. Djakadam is in great form, I’ve been telling everyone that,’ he said with a quiet conviction.
He treats his horses the way his teachers at Cistercian used to regard their pupils, with respect, and he gave each winner, and their pilot, top marks as they signed off from their toughest exams of the season.
Here’s how Mullins viewed the thrilling timetable, which cost the bookies millions.
Yorkhill (JLT Chase, 1.30): ‘The way things were working out over
the last few days I thought we might be too far behind and Ruby had to sit and suffer. ‘To get on the board is huge, and to get on the board in a Grade One is better. It’s good for me, for Ruby and it puts confidence back in the team.’ Un De Sceaux (Ryanair Chase 2.50): ‘He’s an iron horse, he’s everything you want in a racehorse, brave, strong and sound. Ruby is only half in control half the time. ‘He just seems to find reserves, from where I don’t know. I didn’t realise it was my 50th winner at the Festival.’ Nichols Canyon (Stayers’ Hurdle, 3.30): ‘It’s absolutely magic, as I didn’t expect him to win. To get one against the grain was a joy, whereas the previous two were about relief. ‘After his last bit of work, we changed his stable, his work rider, his routine, and it worked. Let’s Dance (Mares’ Novice Hurdle, 4.50): ‘There was only one or two behind her turning in but Ruby didn’t panic. To be able to ride with that sort of confidence, and sit there and wait for the race to open up, that was something else.
‘We targeted that race over others because of the bonus and if anyone deserves it, it’s the stable staff.’
Of the four wins, he may have privately enjoyed the Ryanair Chase most. As for sponsor Michael O’Leary, the defeat of his two horses, Sub Lieutenant and Empire Of Dirt, to one of Mullins’ caught in his craw.
‘Ruby stole it down the back and they’re all sitting there, asleep,’ said O’Leary.
‘What do you expect Willie Mull- ins’ horses to do? Come back to you? There’s a secret to winning this race: stop sponsoring the bloody thing. I’m not having any joy trying to win my own money back.
‘I thought our two best chances this week were the Ryanair and the JLT today and neither of them have come home. I’m delighted for Willie and Ruby but did they have to be so greedy on Ryanair day? We fight over fees and he’s still taking money off me,’ said a smiling O’Leary, adding: ‘At least we’ll get a few cheap headlines out of it!’
Not too many. The headlines today are about mighty Mullins, his four winners, including a first in the Stayers’ Hurdle.
As he arrived back in the parade ring after Let’s Dance’s jig of joy, he was hugged by fellow trainer Tom Taaffe. ‘Mr Mullins,’ he beamed. ‘I’m sorry you’re having such a bad week.’
Mullins smiled. A bad week has become a bountiful one and there may be more top marks to come today.
‘It must be one of our best days, it can’t get better’