One can go mad hoping that Willie Mullins sends a particular horse a certain way but the signs are encouraging about this Festival winnerThose of us who want to see Yorkhill in a Gold Cup got some encouragement from an Irish Times piece yesterday, predicting he may make his return to action at Leopardstown over Christmas in the race formerly known as the Lexus (or the Ericsson if you go back a bit further). “Leopardstown at Christmas looks a good possibility,” Willie Mullins was quoted as saying. Related: Cue Card may head for restaged Peterborough rather than King George Continue reading...
Trainer Wille Mullins said on Thursday he was ‘not entirely happy’ with the horse after his runner did some light work on the gallopsThe signs were there in the ante-post market on Wednesday that Douvan might not travel across from Ireland for Saturday’s Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown, and the drift in his price – from odds-on to odds-against – has proved to be prophetic.Both Douvan and Un De Sceaux, last year’s winner and his stable companion at the Willie Mullins yard, were missing from the list when the final declarations for the race were made this morning. Initially, there were just four runners declared for the Tingle Creek, a race with a prize fund of £150,000: Ar Mad, Fox...
Haymount might be about to fire Willie Mullins back into contention for the Irish trainers’ titleGood morning and welcome to Gigginstown Grand National day! Or is it Gordon Elliott Grand National day? One or the other. Maybe both. Continue reading...
Is it enough that Yorkhill travelled like the wrath of God? Or are you put off because his jumping lacks finesse?I haven’t always enjoyed the annual pre-Cheltenham schooling session at Leopardstown which took place after racing yesterday. A particular low point was the year I was actually sent to the Dublin track to report on it, when the lateness of the timing gave me an hour to gather material, hoof it back to the press room and try to bash out something meaningful. Related: Cheltenham 2017: Tony McCoy lifts Jonjo O’Neill’s pursuit of fresh glory Continue reading...
The trainer with more favourites than any other for the Festival gives the lowdown on the horses from his stable heading for the premier jumps meeting in a fortnightWillie Mullins, the champion trainer at five of the last six Cheltenham Festivals, threw his stable doors open to the media on Monday morning and spoke at length about his team for this year’s meeting, which is expected to include about up to 40 horses. Here’s what he had to say about some of the leading contenders. Related: Colin Tizzard confident of Cheltenham success despite Thistlecrack blow Related: Talking Horses: Nicky Henderson’s Cheltenham Festival runners guide Related: Talking Horses: Tips plus Paul Nicholls' Festival runners guide Continue reading...