FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Mullins is hatching a winning plan for Cheltenham
WILLIE Mullins doesn’t dabble with the ornate chess set which decorates the coffee table in his drawing room but when it comes to preparing a strategy for combat in the Cotswolds, he is moves ahead of the rest. Mullins is overseeing a mammoth squad of 50 runners for the Cheltenham Festival, from ‘our king’ Hurricane Fly, who runs in his fifth Champion Hurdle, to a few lively pawns in the handicaps.
Laid out in front of Mullins are four days of distinctive black and white battlefields, over hurdle, fence and ditch where he will seek to add to the 23 winners he has chalked up since 2008.
Most of his Cheltenham pieces were on parade in Closutton this week where Mullins identified 35 runners by their markings as they thundered through chip and sand at 30 miles per hour.
Going solo, as always, was Hurricane Fly, the zesty wee apple of Mullins’ eye.
Over the next two weeks lines of battle will be finalised and Mullins will march on Gloucestershire as Irish spearhead.
For all his candour and easy manner, the fisticuffs of the festival are creeping up on Mullins.
‘The two weeks leading up to Cheltenham are a nightmare for trainers, we’ve got to do our hardest work, every day up to the festival you will hear of a different horse pulling out,’ he said.
‘I was thinking the other night that we have five favourites on the first day but what’s the percentage of winning favourites on the Tuesday?’ he asked.
‘They can’t all win. The Supreme Novice Hurdle favourite usually gets turned over and in that one we have Douvan, one of our hottest chances.’
Even so, Mullins accepts he has never held a stronger hand, for the elite championship races and the handicaps, where he has a cluster of newcomers.
‘It is our strongest team, not just for the Grade Ones but with the type of horses we have in yard I’ve also entered novices in open handicaps. It’s a new strategy.’
Mullins is no mug when it comes to the Cheltenham handicaps, having scooped two County Hurdles, and two Conditional Jockey’s Hurdles since 2010.
But it is the blue-chip prizes which he and his owners covet most. Of the 14 Grade Ones, a Mullins’ horse is ante-post favourite for nine.
Many of his champions carry the pips of previous festival fights; Hurricane Fly is running in the Champion Hurdle for a fifth time; the flying grey, Champagne Fever, is contesting his fourth different race, having won twice already; Boston Bob is back in the ring for a fourth bout.
Faugheen, Vautour and Don Poli, all favourites, won last year; Annie Power is out to avenge her shock loss in the World Hurdle, while On His Own, luckless last year too in the Gold Cup, is also back.
Also going are exciting young pretenders, such as two-mile chaser Un De Sceaux. ‘It’s heart-in-the-mouth stuff to watch him’, said Mullins.
For all the fancies, the Champion Bumper crew, there is a big-priced festival rookie in whom Mullins is pinning his prospects in the Gold Cup, a race he has saddled the runner-up in four times: Djakadam.
Few have seen Djakadam at his best as his performance under top weight in the Thyestes Chase last month came under a blanket of thick fog. Ruby Walsh was on board and he noted every tick of muscle and lung, as Mullins revealed.
‘Normally in the Thyestes, with four fences to go, you’re hanging on, trying to get breath of air into your horse, but Ruby was swinging off him as other
Let’s get one on board... If luck went our way we could have a hell of a year
horses, seasoned handicappers were slogging. Off top weight, to me that was a Gold Cup performance,’ he said. ‘It was as good as I’ve seen over fences this year in Ireland.’
Having Walsh on call is akin to holding an ace up the sleeve. No jockey rides Cheltenham better; and none have as much racing intellect, either on, or off, the saddle.
‘Ruby’s in his prime, and still tries to improve himself. It’s a measure of the man that he’s looking for an angle all the time when he doesn’t win. He brings huge Cheltenham experience and expertise, they are the key qualities.
‘I’m hoping he stays sound, because National Hunt jockeys have a habit of getting hurt. I’m not encouraging him to ride every horse he could over the next few days. If he can ride the really good ones well at Cheltenham that’s what I want from him.’
Does Mullins feel the pressure to deliver for the punters?
‘I suppose we do. We looked at last year, where we had four winners, and six seconds, three of whom were beaten a neck or less. It shows you what the competition is like at Cheltenham; if you’re just not up to it, you’re going to be beaten.
‘When people are saying this year “you’re going to have eight to ten winners,” I’m thinking “let’s get one on the board”. If we get more than three that’s fantastic. If luck went our way, it could be a hell of a year.’
So, what would make Cheltenham 2015 unforgettable for Mullins?
‘A Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup,’ he laughed. Checkmate.