Paddy Flood on Majborough - 'He’s a jockey’s nightmare to ride at the minute' Speaking on this week's Irish Angle, former jockey Paddy Flood spoke about his disappointment in the Willie Mullins-trained Majborough as he got his season underway, finishing second in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork Racecourse. The five-year-old son of Martinborough has struggled since his emphatic debut over fences last December. Although he secured victory in the Irish Arkle, his jumping was brought up for fierce discussion, and at the Cheltenham Festival those fears were confirmed as he made two race-shattering errors - one at the second-last and another untidy jump at the last - throwing away his chance. The 2024 Triumph Hurdle winner managed to finish a close 3rd which showed his potential as being a top class two-mile chaser is still there but the issue with his jumping was going to need major tidying up as he goes into his first season in open company He ended his season at Punchestown where, despite proving the engine was still very much there, he was constantly hanging left, making it a nervy watch for connections. He is currently the 2/1 favourite for the Grade 1 Dublin Chase at Leopardstown over the Christmas Festival and has been pushed back out to 6/1 for the Champion Chase in March at the Cheltenham Festival. Paddy feels he was disappointing over his fences and is starting to question the horse as a real Grade One candidate. 'He never went forward' “I thought it was a really poor performance. We all know last year he threw away his chance in the Arkle jumping-wise, but I just thought this year, a year older, we'd see a lot more and he’d justify why he’s that price in the market for Cheltenham." said Flood. “From the drop of the flag, when you saw Mark Walsh really driving the horse on - what we’d call hoofing, sitting into the saddle and nearly kicking him in the belly to go and take on his jump - I was very surprised. He wasn’t worried about him being too keen; he was worried about getting him to go forward. He never went forward at any stage. “He made two or three good leaps, but he jumped like a fridge for most of it. He was really, really poor. I’d be really worried about him now after that. A lot of Willie’s horses at the moment are in and out." The engine is still there "The ones that are good have been very good, but the ones not running well have been really poor. All weekend was kind of the same - horses firing in England and Ireland, and others not firing, a lot more in Cork really. “But yeah, I was really disappointed. I thought he’d come out and do it a bit easier. I’d say the engine is still there, because any horse that races that way and makes that many mistakes but still finishes with a chance at the last obviously has the engine. But he needs to back it up. "This hanging left - it's not just jumping left, it’s well before the fence he’s trying to go left. He’s not watching what he’s doing, and he’s a jockey’s nightmare to ride at the minute.” Watch the full Irish Angle Show
