A WEEK OF FESTIVAL SPILLS AND THRILLS
LAST week saw the climax of the Irish National Hunt racing season and what a marathon five days it was at Punchestown, with more twists and turns than a rarely travelled potholed country boreen.
Coming into the festival Willie Mullins faced a daunting deficit of over €500,000 against rival Gordon Elliott, but the Closutton handler wiped that out in quick smart time, before going on to ruthlessly claim the trainer’s championship with something to spare.
The utter domination of Mullins and Meath man Elliott has undoubtedly stolen some of the romance from the Sport of Kings in the Emerald Isle and days when smaller trainers were challenging for the blue riband events seem like a distant memory.
That said, Mullins and Elliott are where they are for a reason. It’s easy to point to the number of quality horses at their disposal as the simple explanation for their phenomenal success, but it’s their attention to detail, single-mindedness and unbelievable will to win that has taken them where they are in the first place.
Despite the absence of fairy tales, the battle of the big boys did make for compelling viewing in itself, during a week when everything seemed to go right for the wily 61-year-old Carlow trainer (well almost everything).
Paul Townend snatching defeat from the jaws of victory aboard Al Boum Photo in the Champion Novice Chase last Tuesday was the obvious low point during a week of momentous highs for Mullins.
The jockey picked up a 21-day ban for dangerous riding when dramatically steering right before the final obstacle after apparently hearing a shout to bypass the fence.
There’s no doubting it was an extraordinary and costly mistake, but the amount of nonsense spouted on social media afterwards would make your blood boil, with dreadful character assassinations there for all and sundry to read - from crazy accusations of him throwing the race on purpose to help Gordon Elliott to win the title to ridiculous calls for the jockey to be handed a lifetime ban.
Unfortunately the racing authorities merely added fuel to the fire by just announcing the suspension, without any transparent explanation, giving the punter’s whose fiver each way had gone west free rein to voice their stupid conspiracy theories.
We’re all human and are well capable of making the wrong call in a split second decision, and to his credit Townend showed his mental fortitude the following day by notching up a treble.
That unfortunate blip was soon forgotten about by most, and there were a host of highlights for the Mullins yard, including the resurrection of the machine Faugheen and an impressive win by Un De Sceaux, while Bellshill landed the Punchestown Gold Cup and the Carlow handler mopped up bumpers in his usual calculated fashion.
The week wasn’t all about the battle between Mullins and Elliott though and thankfully some real sentiment was allowed to seep in, with another duo rightfully stealing the limelight on the final two days of the festival, Katie Walsh and Nina Carberry.
On Friday the Punchestown air was filled with emotion as Walsh announced her retirement after steering Antey to victory.
Walsh, who achieved the highest-placed finish by any female rider in the history of the Aintree Grand National when third aboard Seabass in 2012 and has an Irish Grand National and three Cheltenham Festival winners to her name, wanted to go out on a high and she certainly did that.
Amazingly, the next day her sister-in-law Nina Carberry revealed that she too would be bowing out after steering the Enda Bolger-trained Josies Orders to victory in the Dooley Insurances Cross Country Chase.
Carberry rode seven winners at the Cheltenham Festival, as well as winning the Irish Grand National on board Organisedconfusion in 2011 and her beaming smile as she enters the winners’ enclosure will be missed by all who enjoy horse racing.
Walsh and Carberry have done wonders for the image of the sport over the last decade or more, so hopefully more female jockeys can join the likes of Rachael Blackmore to fill the large void that has been left by their departures.