Going - Soft to Heavy. Showery
Jackpot Pool - 2,433.01 Dividend - 1,252.20 Winning Units - 1.36. Placepot Pool - 30,661.99 Dividend - 31.70 Winning Units - 677.1. Days Aggregate - 216,260.56 Last Year 225,185.72
Springt De La Mare progressing well over fences
He jumped really well and it was a good performance. I was just saying to Keith there that we couldn’t win a maiden hurdle with him, but he’s taken to this better. He jumps really well and got through that ground well. He won his bumper and looked like he was going to be very smart, but he just lost his way a little bit in the middle part of his career. Hopefully, we’re back on track. The handicapper will have a bit of a say with that. He doesn’t qualify for some of the bigger handicaps yet, with only two runs, so I’m not really sure where we go now. This was the only race for him and it’s very hard to place those horses.
Mullins eyes Brown Advisory for High Class Hero
He did it nicely. The ground was quite testing as they had a lot of rain before racing. He’s in the Brown Advisory. He would look that type of an animal and we’ll probably head that direction. The other fella, Loughglynn, will probably stay at home and we’ll find something for him.
Coen seen to good effect on Fortunedefortunata
William Munny 'put himself right in the picture' for Supreme
The first thing I want to say is that we’re all thinking about Michael (O'Sullivan) and his family today. This is the first winner in those colours since. This horse has been doing everything wrong in his hurdle races. He’s been way too keen, making mistakes and he’s still running to figures to suggest that he’s there or thereabouts winning a Supreme Novices. Today he settled away better and jumped better. He was on and off it. He got a run on him going down the hill. He has so much natural ability this horse that he can’t understand why the riders want to take him back. He’s hardly having a blow there today, that was his last piece of work before the Supreme. I know nothing about time but I’ve had two of the top fellas tell me the race in Fairyhouse, the time he was beaten and they were 24 lengths clear of the rest, that the first and second’s sectional splits were good enough to win nine out of the last ten Supremes. He’s put himself right in the picture there. He was a very good bumper horse and in his two runs over hurdles he was way too keen and made too many mistakes. He put it all together there today and we’ll be on the boat and I wouldn’t be swapping him for anything in it. In a fast run race over there you’d be hoping he’d settle away a bit better. He has the lot.
Mullins and Townend double up with Jade De Grugy
It was a lovely run, it was a nice comeback to racing,. Annie Power won this race before winning the Champion Hurdle a few years ago and it has been won in the past by a mare (Black Tears) before winning the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham. She had worked nicely at home and I was very happy with her coming here. She showed me today what she had showed me at home. I think she’ll improve a fair bit for the race, which leaves us in a good position going to Cheltenham. I’ve no ground issues with her. Carrying the weight she carried today against nice opposition, I think is a good sign.
Cardcounter gives Elliott a winning pair
Prophet's Corner a first track winner for Allen
That’s my first winner on the track, I’ve had 24 in point-to-points. He’s kind of a yard favourite. I suppose three miles is his thing and when you get into heavy ground that’s mainly his thing. He’s very good on heavy ground, he can go the same speed on soft as he can on hard. He’s one-paced, but stays going. We’ll try for another hurdle and see how that goes after today. He might have won too far, but we’ll take it. It’s our first winner so we’re not going to complain. Darragh is my brother so it’s a family success. It’s all in-house which keeps the costs down!. I just want to say a word about Mikey O’Sullivan. It’s an awful tragedy — there are no words for it.
Impressive Gameofinches makes it a treble for Mullins
He did what I was hoping he could do. His homework has been nice, he showed on the track what he had been showing me at home. I was very happy with the outcome and I’d imagine, if he recovers nicely from that race, he’ll go to the Cheltenham bumper. He’s a big horse and you never know how much it takes out of them until a week or ten days after the race. He seems to have a nice temperament, in the parade ring before the race and in the winner’s enclosure afterwards, so that all helps when you are travelling across the water. He looks a real chasing type. We’ll see what happens him next year, whether we’ll go over hurdles. He’s six now so we might go straight chasing with him, I’m not sure hurdling would do anything for his career, but they are discussions for another day with his connections.