Two Queens But Only One King as Mullins Rules Cheltenham 

CHELTENHAM, UK — “It's the Willie Mullins five as they come towards the last.”

Commentator Ian Bartlett issued a line to strike dread into the hearts of rival trainers. Mullins had picked up where he left off, with Ballyburn (Ire) (Flemensfirth) leading home his stable-mates Jimmy de Seuil (Fr), Ile Atlantique (Fr), Mercurey (Fr) and Predators Gold (Fr) in the G1 Gallagher Novices' Hurdle. The only other finisher, and one of two British-trained runners, was Ben Pauling's Handstands (Ire), tailed off, while Jingko Blue (Fr) continued a week of woe for Nicky Henderson by becoming his sixth horse in the last two days at Cheltenham to be pulled up mid-race.

In the parade ring ahead of the next, Queen Camilla looked unperturbed by England's apparent inferiority in the jumping ranks as she chatted with friends, very much at home in the Cotswolds. Just across the paddock was the man who trained Cheltenham's original 'Famous Five', Michael Dickinson, holding court amid a group of visiting influencers.

Things have changed since 1983 when Dickinson saddled Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House, who became an instant quiz question when securing their places in history by being the first five home in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Dickinson looked around, gesturing towards the impressive new grandstand, and said, “The Festival is so different now, none of this was here. It has changed and gone forward, it was nothing like this in the old days.”

The Yorkshireman has been based in America for many years but can't resist an annual pilgrimage to Cheltenham.

“It's four days of championship racing with over 200,000 people attending. They bet half a billion dollars and there's £7 million in prize-money,” he added. “That's it in a nutshell. There's nothing like this.”

There is also nothing, or nobody, quite like Willie Mullins. After Ballyburn came the stunning Fact To File (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}) to win the G1 Brown Advisory Novices' Chase and put Ireland's champion National Hunt trainer on the cusp of notching 100 winners at the Cheltenham Festival. He walked in to the winner's circle with an almost apologetic air. Nicky Henderson, his main British rival and the man who for a long time had been the winningmost trainer at the Festival, was barely at the races. Henderson had acknowledged the poor performances of his runners on the opening day of the meeting and announced the withdrawal of Jonbon (Fr), First Street (GB) and Kingston Pride (Ire) from Wednesday's proceedings.

As Mullins mused next year's Champion Hurdle potential of Ballyburn, his thoughts turned also to his friend and rival. 

“Nicky Henderson must be devastated, having to pull out his horses,” he said. “That's what I'm always dreading, that you have an axe swung in from the side that takes you out at the knees.

“We all feel for him, because we'd rather have beaten Constitution Hill to win the Champion Hurdle. We're good pals and we like the competition, and it's just awful for people. You save it all up for the whole year, your energy, everything, put it all into this and then the horses are taken out because of some mystery, whatever's going through the yard.”

Setbacks come in different guises, however, and by the time of the day's feature race, the G1 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, it was Mullins who was ruing his luck when his odds-on favourite El Fabiolo (Fr) (Spanish Moon) crumpled on landing over the fifth fence and, though swiftly back to his feet with Paul Townend still aboard, was sensible pulled up, all momentum lost. 

Instead, it was that immensely popular duo of Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore who prevailed with the appropriately named Captain Guinness (Ire), who had been second last year behind Energumene (Fr). This time around Mullins had to settle for second courtesy of his other runner, Gentleman De Mee (Fr) (Saint Des Saints {Fr}).

For the winning trainer it was a fourth success in this championship for the two-mile chasers in the last 13 years, but it was the first time his stable jockey Blackmore had won this particular race and it completed her triple crown to go with Honeysuckle's Champion Hurdles and A Plus Tard's Gold Cup.

“Here she is, the Queen of Cheltenham,” said the announcer as Blackmore was led back in while the actual Queen stood discreetly to one side applauding. 

Blackmore has long been jump racing's greatest gift. A fierce competitor on equal terms in an unforgiving sport, she would almost certainly loathe to be thought of as anything other than just a jockey, but she is indubitably one of the best we've seen and she just happens to be female. 

“You just leave it to her,” said de Bromhead as he assessed the performance of Blackmore. “I've said it all before, she's such an incredible rider, and whatever it is about here, she's amazing here, even better.”

Blackmore herself said after claiming her 16th Festival victory on Declan Landy's nine-year-old, “He's an incredible horse and just fantastic. I'm not shocked, because I thought his day would come, but at the same time I can't believe it came today.

“Although he was beaten a long way, he ran a really good race here last year behind an incredibly talented horse, and when you are riding for Henry around here this week he does just get them spot on, so I was very, very hopeful coming into the race. I'm just so delighted it's finally happened, and on the biggest stage of all. It's an incredible race to win.”

Britain did get two strikes on the board on Wednesday – both from the same stable. Dan Skelton, the trainer of repeat Coral Cup winner Langer Dan (Ire) (Ocovango {Ger}) and Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase winner Unexpected Party (Fr) (Martaline {Fr}), had started the week in less auspicious fashion by being fined £6,000 by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for his part in the saga surrounding the sale of George Gently (Fr). 

In a “fast-tracked” disciplinary hearing into a case which has actually been ongoing for six years, Skelton admitted to two breaches of the Rules of Racing. He was handed a financial penalty but no suspension despite having been found to have misled or attempted to mislead the BHA in regard to the ownership of George Gently prior to his sale to a syndicate. Not the greatest PR for British jump racing at a time when its fragility is becoming increasingly apparent. 

Cheltenham, too, has issues that will need to be addressed in the near future in regard to the Festival. The attendance figure for Wednesday was 46,771, the lowest it has been since 2009. In 2022, the first year the crowds returned after Covid, there were 64,431 people at Cheltenham for Queen Mother Champion Chase day, but prior to the pandemic the more usual figure for the Wednesday had been just shy of 60,000.

More positively, the day ended as it had started, with victory for Willie Mullins and a significant milestone reached with his century of Cheltenham Festival winners.

“Willie's in the bumper” has been a favourite fall-back option for festival-goers for years, ever since Mullins trained – and rode – his first Champion Bumper winner Wither Or Which (Ire) in 1996. That sparked three in a row, and his tally in the Festival's sole flat contest now stands at 13 victories. On four of those occasions his son Patrick has been aboard, as he was for this significant 100th Festival win. 

In fact, these days it is hard to narrow down exactly which one of Willie's it will be in the bumper. This year he trained eight of the 19 runners, and the winner, Jasmin De Vaux (Fr) (Tirwanako {Fr}), is owned, like the unfortunate El Fabiolo, by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

“I can't put into words what it feels like to train 100 winners here, because nobody ever thought that anybody would train 100 winners,” Mullins said. “As I've often said, when I started out and had my first win here with Tourist Attraction I thought that was a lifetime achievement, so I'm absolutely stunned that we've come this far.

“We have such a wonderful team at home, with my wife Jackie, Patrick, David Casey, Ruby [Walsh], Dick [Dowling], and all of my head people. It's such a team effort, and they had all of those horses to saddle there. I didn't go near one saddle.”

He added, “I was really pleased Patrick got the ride. I wasn't sure he was on the right one, but he picked it and he was spot on.

“Simon and Isaac had the disappointment with El Fabiolo so for them to own this horse was a little bit of justice.”

It is indeed, for while Mullins is dominating the Festival, with six of the 13 winners at the halfway stage, those horses were owned by five separate owners or partnerships. It is hard to see the influx of young equine talent to his stable ending any time soon.

 

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‘We’re Up Against Monsters’ – Molony On Kenny Alexander’s Cheltenham Squad

Peter Molony, racing manager to Kenny Alexander, says he cannot split the powerful owner's Jade De Grugy (Fr), Kargese (Fr) and previous Cheltenham Festival scorer Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) when it comes to picking the operation's best chance of a winner at Prestbury Park next week. 

The Rathmore Stud boss also provided a passionate riposte to some of the criticism being levelled at the mares' races at the Cheltenham Festival by stating that their horse of a lifetime Honeysuckle (GB) may never have seen a racetrack had it not been for the opportunities presented to mares through the heightened programme in recent years.

Following the high-profile defection of Constitution Hill (GB) in this year's Champion Hurdle, Willie Mullins and owner Rich Ricci have come under pressure to run last year's Triumph Hurdle scorer Lossiemouth (Fr), as short as 1-2 for the Mares' Hurdle, in the day one showpiece. 

It's a situation Molony can relate to as similar pressure was being heaped on trainer Henry de Bromhead and Alexander to run the reigning Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle against the boys in the build-up to last year's festival despite the fact she clearly wasn't operating at her brilliant best throughout the campaign. 

In the end, Honeysuckle bypassed the Champion Hurdle in favour of the Mares' Hurdle, and delivered one of the standout performances of the meeting when bowing out with a hard-fought victory over Love Envoi (Ire). 

While Molony agrees that change is needed in order to drive competition at the Cheltenham Festival, he says the three mares' races–the Mares' Novices' Hurdle, Mares' Hurdle and Mares' Chase–are hugely important lures for people to buy and race mares.

He said, “The mares' races have been under attack recently but, what people don't seem to realise is that none of these mares would be in training at all if it wasn't for these mares' races. Honeysuckle, Annie Power (Fr), Quevega (Ire)–none of those mares would have been kept in training if it wasn't for the mares' races. Before these races came about, there was zero trade for National Hunt fillies. Zero. That's what people don't seem to realise.

“For me, we need to step back and appreciate how these mares' races are enhancing the game. I don't understand the criticism levelled at these races. Now, I do agree that changes need to be made at Cheltenham, but I am firmly of the belief that these mares' races are adding to the programme and that they are not part of the problem. In actual fact, they are part of the solution.”

Molony added, “One pundit, I can't even remember who it was, described the Mares' Hurdle as the worst race at the Cheltenham Festival. Whoever he was, he clearly wasn't watching last year's edition. These races add a huge amount of colour. Okay, last year's race was run in exceptional circumstances and there was huge emotion surrounding the whole thing. However, according to most people who were there and a lot of people watching it on television, it was one of their most amazing experiences in racing when Honeysuckle won.”

The Mares' Novices' Hurdle is shaping up to be one of the races of next week. Gordon Elliott has gone on the record in saying that Brighterdaysahead (Fr) compares favourably with anything he has ever trained before. While Molony is full of respect for Brighterdaysahead, he is also confident that Jade De Grugy can give a good account. 

He said, “Great friends of mine, the Bleahens, sold Brighterdaysahead so I have known about her for a long time. She was the most beautiful three-year-old and she has a serious pedigree. She's clearly a very good racemare and we have lots of respect for her.”

Molony added, “Our lady has done everything very easily, though. When Brian Hayes got off her at Fairyhouse, he said he thought he was in loads of trouble at one point in the race, because he thought he wasn't going fast enough. As it transpired, she was just going so easy and he said he'd never sat on anything like her before. Willie seems to be quite bullish about Jade De Grugy so we will find out who is the best mare on the day.”

Alexander will be doubly-represented in the Mares' Hurdle with Gala Marceau (Fr) and Tellmesomethinggirl. Molony says that he is quietly confident that the latter can out-run her general odds of 20-1. 

He explained, “I think the two-and-a-half miles will really play to Gala Marceau's strengths. She was very disappointing the last day but Willie seems pretty confident that that was just a blip. We're actually quietly confident about Telmesomethinggirl. We know she loves the place-she won the Mares' Novice very impressively three years ago and she was running a huge race in the Mares' Hurdle itself two years ago before she got brought down. 

“Rachael [Blackmore] came in afterwards and was absolutely sick–she thought she was going to win. At her best, I think she'd give everything in the race something to think about. We had a waste of a year over fences last year with her. She didn't really take to it. Henry seems to be confident that she's coming right back to her best so we're quite hopeful.”

Alexander will take on another short-priced favourite on Friday when Kargese bids to get the better of the hugely impressive Sir Gino (Fr) in the Triumph. Kargese, a Grade 1 winner at the Dublin Racing Festival, is said to be improving with racing, and Molony gives the filly a big chance getting weight from the opposite sex.

Molony said, “Everywhere we look, we seem to be running against a monster. Telmesomethinggirl has Lossiemouth to contend with, Jade De Grugy has Brighterdaysahead and now Kargese has Sir Gino to worry about in the Triumph. She is a beautiful-looking mare. The first day she ran for us, she just didn't settle at all and did remarkably well to finish second. Then she went and won the Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival where she settled much better. If she settles in the Triumph, she'll run a big race getting weight from the geldings.”

On the rest of their festival squad, he added, “We'd love Doddiethegreat (Ire) to run well and win some money for the Doddie [Weir] foundation. He'll be declared for the Coral Cup and, if he gets in, he'll run. If he doesn't, he'll go for the Martin Pipe but we're hoping he gets into the Coral Cup. 

“We also have Miss Manzor (GB) in the Boodles. We like her a lot and she ran a blinder at Christmas. She must have a little bit of a squeak.”

Asked to nominate Alexander's best chance of the week, Molony said, “Tellmesomethinggirl, Jade De Grugy and Kargese all have great chances but they're all running up against monsters. If one of them happened to win, we'd be delighted.”

Meanwhile, four-time Festival winner and dual Champion Hurdler Honeysuckle is due her first foal by Walk In The Park (Ire) in the coming weeks. 

Providing an update on the legendary racemare, Molony concluded, “Honeysuckle is still in Scotland. Kenny was very keen that she foaled over there and it's all good so far, touch wood. She is due in about three weeks' time now. Kerry, who looks after her so well over there, is under strict instruction to call me whenever she foals–I don't care if it's two o'clock in the morning! 

“Fingers crossed, everything will go well and we will have a healthy foal. Everything going well, she will come back to us when the foal is about three weeks old and we will be visiting Blue Bresil (Fr) this year.”

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‘Start Of A New Legacy’ – Jetara Bids To Do Outstanding Family Proud At DRF

Gerry McGrath, breeder of Champion Hurdler Jezki (Ire) (Milan {GB}) and high-class performers Jett (Ire) (Flemensfirth), Jered (Ire) (Presenting {GB}), Jetson (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}) and Jenari (Ire) (Milan {GB}) all out of the outstanding broodmare La Noire (Ire) (Phardante {Fr}), has outlined hopes that the legacy can continue with leading Dublin Racing Festival contender Jetara (Ire) (Walk In The Park {Ire}).

A granddaughter of La Noire, the mare who was famously gifted to McGrath by his late father in the nineties, Jetara will take on the boys in the G1 Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle on Saturday and will arrive at Leopardstown in the form of her life after posting three wins on the trot. 

It was in 2020 when McGrath, 72, decided to offer the majority of his breeding and racing stock as part of a dispersal at Tattersalls Ireland. All bar the first foals out of each broodmare he owned were offered under the hammer and, once again, lady luck was on the breeder's side with the now Grade 1 aspirant Jetara one of the fillies he decided to retain. 

McGrath joked, “It's hard to get out of this game! It was a couple of years ago when Michael O'Leary said he was getting out but he still has plenty of horses. Basically, Jetara is the start of a new legacy, isn't she? If she stays safe, she is going to continue on the line.”

There is a common theme with McGrath's horses. They all begin with the letter J and, for the most part, they have been trained by Jessica Harrington. 

McGrath may well have felt that the final chapters of his famous association with the La Noire family had been written after the dispersal of less than four years ago which makes Jetara's emergence as a top-notch prospect all the sweeter.

“I hope that the best may still be to come with Jetara,” he explained. “She was superb in a Grade 3 at Leopardstown the last day and Jessica says that she will be even better on a nicer surface. We will see how Saturday goes but we will probably skip Cheltenham and target Fairyhouse and Punchestown, although that will be Jessica's decision.”

He added on his association with Harrington, “She is fantastic. Jessica is straight-talking and you know exactly where you stand with her. She always does the best she can by you and, what she has gone through last year, she is as strong as an ox. Nothing keeps her down.”

What makes McGrath's achievements even more mind-boggling is the fact that, prior to being gifted the amazing foundation mare La Noire, he had no knowledge about breeding or racing horses. Nobody could accuse him for being asleep at the wheel with Jezki's memorable Champion Hurdle performance in the colours of JP McManus last decade put forward as an obvious highlight.

He said, “Jezki winning the Champion Hurdle was an amazing day. And it's funny, you know, everybody knows the horse but they don't know his name. They call him jet ski. He was named after my daughters Kim and Zoe. So, as usual, we start off with the J, and added in the Z for Zoe and the K for Kim.”

It may be common practice in some jurisdictions for a horse's name to begin with a certain letter depending on when they were born. However, in this case, the naming of the steeds is once again down to nothing but pure superstition. 

McGrath explained, “Well, the mother was La Noire, which translates to black, and I just thought when you think of black, you think jet black. The first one beginning with the letter J was successful and, given we are a very superstitious crowd, we kept it going.”

He added, “I wasn't born into horses. My Dad was big into the breeding but he used to give away the fillies and race the boys. I was out helping him in the yard one day and he told me he was about to give La Noire away but asked me if I wanted her first. It was purely timing, otherwise somebody else would have owned La Noire. I hadn't a clue about breeding but learned as I went along. I knew what I had and I knew what I hoped to produce. One and one doesn't always make two and, even when you think you have the perfect formula, it doesn't work that way with breeding. But luck has been on our side. La Noire was so prolific. I must also say that Coolmore have been a great help to me.”

Having carried McGrath's colours for the early stages of his career, Jezki was sold to JP McManus, for whom he sported the famous green and gold hoops of the legendary owner when out-battling My Tent Or Yours (Ire) (Desert Prince {Ire}) in the 2014 Champion Hurdle. Similarly to Jezki, two more siblings, Jenari and Jered, were sold mid-career to McManus, and McGrath revealed that Jetara will probably change hands at some point in the near future such is the need to keep the wheels turning. 

He said, “Jetara reminds me so much of Jezki. The way she jumps and travels is similar to him and, you know, she's probably a roomier mare to La Noire so she should make a very good broodmare down the line. I don't have an interest in breeding anymore so, if somebody does come in for this filly, there is a likelihood that she will be sold. It has to make some business sense.”

He added, “When we had the dispersal, I decided to keep the first foal out of each of the mares. I kept Jetara in the hope that she'd be good and thank God that luck has been on my side again. We also have Jekiki (Ire) (Soldier Of Fortune {Ire}) in training. She is out of Jeree (Ire) (Flemensfirth), who hasn't produced anything of note yet, but she has a lovely four-year-old by Order Of St George (Ire) who is in Jessica's and is apparently showing the right signs. Do you want to know what he is going to be called? Jerrari. Like Ferrari, only with a J in front of it. Now, he's not red, but hopefully he's as fast as one!”

It's not just the naming of McGrath's horses that have captured the imagination down through the years. His bright orange colours, which can be seen from outer space, are just as synonymous as the names. 

“I am a bit of an artist so I drew up some blank colours and started colouring them in to see what worked. Orange and black works nicely so, when it came to getting the colours made up, I had two types of orange to choose from. I went with the bright fluorescent orange. You can see the colours through the fog. 

“But it's funny, they say racing is the sport of kings. Well what town in Ireland do you associate kings with? Tara. Say no more!”

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What Was Your Favorite Moment Of 2023: Geoffrey Russell

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com

I have been fortunate to experience many wonderful days racing, but NEVER I have EVER heard a crowd response like when the two Queens of National Hunt racing, HONEYSUCKLE and Rachael Blackmore, returned to the Cheltenham winner enclosure the after the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle (The David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle) in March of this year. The place was packed 20 deep, it went wild, it was electric, you did not want it to end and then you wanted to bottle it up to use again and again. Thanks HONEYSUCKLE and Rachael.

–Geoffrey Russell

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