Mullins has Total faith in his Gold Cup hopeful
Trainer pencils in Recall for the top two racing prizes
‘A HORSE LIKE HIM, I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE WILL STOP IMPROVING’
IN National Hunt racing, the Gold Cup-Grand National double is so elusive that very few horses attempt it. It’s akin to a mountaineer striving to scale the north face of the Eiger clad in a sou’wester, slacks and galoshes.
In 89 previous Gold Cups, for example, only two winners have gone on to achieve glory in the Aintree marathon, Golden Miller and L’Escargot.
Of those, the mighty Golden Miller did so in the same year, 1934, when the races were run just 17 days apart, which makes his feat even more remarkable.
This year, the gap is 29 days from March 16 to April 14, sufficient enough to tempt champion trainer Willie Mullins to pencil in both races for his progressive nine-yearold, Total Recall.
When the National weights were revealed on Tuesday, at a rather chaotic launch in London where guests were forced to switch hotels because of a power cut, the talking horse was Total Recall.
His weight, 11st 1lb, and his age, nine, are the same as that of Hedgehunter, the former stable stalwart of Mullins, when he romped home at Aintree in 2005 — Hedgehunter remains the last outright favourite to win the world’s greatest steeplechase.
More relevant for supporters of Total Recall has been his rapid improvement since coming under the wing of Mullins last summer after the retirement of previous trainer, Sandra Hughes.
This season, the progression has been remarkable, as Total Recall ticked off the €100,000 Munster National, the €200,000 Ladbrokes Trophy Chase in Newbury and, most recently, a €75,000 handicap hurdle at Leopardstown.
When Total Recall was allotted a ‘racing weight’ for Aintree on Tuesday, money poured in to the extent he was soon rivaling Blacklion (10/1) for favouritism.
It was all systems go for Aintree and then, on Thursday evening, Mullins shifted tack slightly by declaring Total Recall’s immediate target would be Cheltenham not Aintree, the Gold Cup, not the National.
Now, punters are not so sure, and odds for Total Recall vary from 12/1 to 16/1. The decision to go for gold wasn’t taken lightly by the Mullins camp who considered the interval between races this year, plus the open aspect to the Gold Cup — there is no Kauto Star, Denman or Don Cossack in the field — behind their thinking. ‘The gap between Cheltenham and Aintree was a factor, no doubt,’ said Patrick Mullins, assistant to his father. ‘It’s unusual to have over four weeks between races and it gives a horse a chance to recover. ‘Also, the Gold Cup looks open this year. Might Bite is favourite even if he didn’t blow everyone away in the King George and Sizing John goes to defend his crown after a disappointing run at Christmas. Total Recall is a progressive horse and there is so much prizemoney in the Gold Cup, the view is that it’s worth taking the chance. You can wait for the National and fall at the first,’ he added.
It’s 12 years since Mullins saddled Hedgehunter in both the Gold Cup and the Grand National.
The space between those races was 22 days yet the 10-year-old was only beaten two and a half lengths by War Of Attrition at Cheltenham and by half that distance by Numbersixvalverde at Aintree.
It was an extraordinary effort and one which Total Recall will try to emulate in the spring as the Mullins team seek to end their Gold Cup hurt.
Improbably, they have hit the crossbar more often than anyone with a raft of second place finishes, including Florida Pearl (2000), Hedgehunter (2005), Sir Des Champs (2013), On His Own (2014) and Djakadam in 2015 and 2016.
The latter is back for a fourth crack and although only nine, there is a gnawing feeling his best days may be behind him. That said, he ran encouragingly to finish third in the Irish Gold Cup when ridden by Mullins.
Along with Killultagh Vic, there will probably be three strings to the Mullins Gold Cup bow on March 16 with Total Recall the likely ride of Ruby Walsh, who intends to return to the saddle next weekend after injury.
‘Of course, Total Recall has surprised us, we thought he was well in when we first got him, but he is a not a simple horse to ride as you saw at Leopardstown,’ said Mullins. ‘Dermot Keeling who rides him at home has done a great job and often rides him in a head-collar. A horse like him, you don’t know where he will stop improving.
‘He has got an improving profile that makes him very interesting.’
If Total Recall were crowned king in the Cotswolds, he would look a proverbial ‘good thing’ for Aintree, given his light-weight.
But be warned: history would not be on his side. Since L’Escargot cracked the Aintree code at the third time in 1975, Gold Cup winners Davy Lad (1977), Alverton (1979) and Garrison Savannah (1991) and Synchronised (2012) all tried to double up but fell short.
Garrison Savannah came closest, coming second to Seagram, but sadly Alverton and Synchronised’s bids were to be their last race. Long Run (2011) and Lord Windermere (2014) both had an unsuccessful crack at Aintree in subsequent years to their Gold Cup wins.
It’s a measure of just how difficult this double is. But you can only have a crack at the second summit if you’ve planted your silks atop the first. Cheltenham, the first of jump racing’s twin peaks, awaits.