Willie spoils the Party for Tony
Stratum lands Cesarewitch for Mullins
STRATUM provided Willie Mullins with his second successive victory in the Emirates Cesarewitch at Newmarket – and broke the heart of his brother Tony.
Ireland’s perennial champion National Hunt trainer saddled the first two home in last year’s renewal of the £350,000 contest, with Low Sun getting the better of stable companion Uradel in a thrilling finish.
Mullins was again well represented, with the Frankie Dettoriridden Buildmeupbuttercup and William Buick’s mount Great White Shark both prominent in the betting – but it was the outsider of the three Stratum who struck gold at 25-1 in the hands of Jason Watson.
Disappointing when well-fancied for this race a year ago, the Tony Bloom-owned six-year-old has largely failed to fire in valuable handicaps both on the Flat and over hurdles since.
He was a ready winner of a minor event on his most recent Flat start at Killarney, but was turned over as the 1-4 favourite on his latest appearance over hurdles at Listowel.
However, he was back on-song in this fiercely competitive two-and-aquarter-mile contest, knuckling down in the closing stages to get the better of 50-1 shot Party Playboy – trained by Willie’s brother Tony – by half a length.
‘We thought this fellow might do it last year,’ admitted the winning trainer.
‘We brought him back because of the prize-money and he ran well here last year, but he just ran too free. We didn’t bring him on the homework he was doing.
‘I was disappointed he got beaten the last day over hurdles, but when I looked back at the race the horse still ran a great race.
‘He deserved to come here and I put that race out of my mind and we took our chance in coming. It has paid off. It was fantastic to get Jason Watson and he gave him an ice-cold ride. Every time I looked at him he was taking a pull, which is a great sign, and he delivered him at the right time.’
Mullins insists he would have been just as pleased to see his brother’s horse emerge triumphant.
He added: ‘When I looked at it two furlongs down I thought Tony was going to win the Cesarewitch and I thought “fantastic for him”, and I thought my fellow might run on to be placed.
‘It just all changed in a couple of strides. I would have liked Tony to have won it, but what can I say? We have been lucky enough to do it. If we weren’t going to win I would have loved Tony to have done it.
‘I think he (Stratum) got the position from the start and my other two, when I looked at them after jumping off, I thought “they have to be super horses to try and get through”. Buildmeupbuttercup flew and Frankie got a great run up the inside, but she just had too much to do from the get-go, and probably the same for Great White Shark.’
Mullins is unsure what the future holds for the winner.
He said: ‘I’m all ears and open to ideas! I was probably going to give him a rest, but we will look at his jumping. He has not had a break for
a while, just mini little breaks, but I don’t know if we have to do anything with him after that sort of win.
‘We came here with the view if he ran bad we would give him a break. We will see how he comes out of the race.
‘He has been in training a long time, but when he does what he did today it shows he still has plenty in the tank.’ Mullins can complete a Cesarewitch double by winning the Irish version at the Curragh today. He has won the race three times in the past decade and possesses a formidable hand, with top-weight Saglawy joined by stable companions Nessun Dorma, Legal Spin and Royal Illusion. John Kiely’s Rock De Baune and the Johnny Murtagh-trained Baba Boom both carry the colours of JP McManus. Other contenders in a fiercelycompetitive race include Tony Martin’s pair of Newcross and Golden Spear, Noel Meade’s duo Red Gerry and Dinard Rose and Gavin Cromwell’s Lever Du Soleil – a winner on his last four starts. Davids Charm will also be bidding for glory at the Kildare venue. John Joe Walsh’s stable star won a Grade Three over hurdles at Tipperary last weekend, following up a win in a valuable handicap hurdle at Listowel. Prior to that, though, he had claimed a nice prize on the level at Killarney and is clearly on great terms with himself. ‘He was impressive at Tipperary and didn’t have much of a race,’ said Walsh. ‘He’s more of a man now, before when he hit the front he used to wander around, but now he just goes along. He’s grown up, it took him a long time. ‘We won’t go chasing, the owner won’t let me now! He seems to have improved a good bit lately. ‘This will be the first time he’s running twice in a week, but he won so easy the other day it was like a piece of work,’ suggested Walsh.