Our man in Ireland calls in on Willie Mullins and Paddy Twomey in his latest leg along the road to the Sky Bet Ebor Festival.
Wim Hof might recommend a cold shower to get you going on a morning. I don’t.
The Hotel Minella bathroom system baffled me. It turns out, having complained upon departure, that there’s a temperature tap further up the shower shaft. I backed down and into a misty County Tipperary morning.
Paddy Twomey is first stop, a trainer bound for the very top table. You sense that much as you approach the yard; workmen at – well work – upgrading facilities. It’s a much changed stable from the one I visited in 2022 and 2023.
The trainer isn’t. He's quietly spoken, engaging and planning ahead for both the short and long term. In the former category that includes two potential runners at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival.
Bond is one in the Moorestyle Convivial Maiden. He poses for the cameras like an old hand rather than a two-year-old colt learning his trade. Twomey likes him, and that means a lot.
There’s a potential wildcard for next week too. Carmers, unbeaten in three races including the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot, is in the Vinnie Roe at the Curragh. He’s also in Wednesday’s Sky Bet Great Voltigeur.
Merchant’s potential absence might just have opened the door for a trip to England for him. Twomey is waiting to make the decision. His next race is the stepping-stone to the Betfred St Leger.
This is some set-up. Emma Nagle is on hand, recording work on a drone to send to the owners. New innovations, new approaches, everywhere you look.
At Willie Mullins’ stable there’s a no need for those. A wonderful sense of familiarity as you walk through into the main yard. There are new benches close to the statute of Al Boum Photo but everything else looks as it was.
The great man waves as we turn in but is heading over the road for the final lot of the morning.
While we await his return a new addition arrives at the yard to enter their new home and Hipop De Loire and Ethical Diamond to circle in front of us.
They're the two darts for York next week, two runners in the Sky Bet Ebor.
Favourite and third favourite with the sponsors. You watch them walk on a glorious early afternoon and think you’re probably looking at the winner. But which one?
Oli Bell is wearing a grey jumper as the temperatures begin to soar. It’s a mistake but not one that can be rectified now.
Willie is here, shirt sleeves rolled up. The giants of the winter have returned over the last two weeks. They’re settling back into their pre-season regime.
“What are we talking about?” Willie asks while getting himself composed.
“The Sky Bet Supreme team and early thoughts for the Dublin Racing Festival,” the swift reply.
He smiles the smile of a man who knows interrogation on those topics are a good two months away.
Microphone on, camera rolling.
"I think I’m sending over two with really good chances but you need luck in the Ebor. Sometimes it’s a bit like the Grand National, even though there are no fences. You need to find the gaps, things have to go right for you from the stalls.
“I just hope we have better luck with Hipop than last year and Ethical Diamond, well I think we’ve found the way to ride him now. He’s going to need a bit of luck coming through horses."
WATCH: Last year's Sky Bet Ebor in which Hipop De Loire was fifth
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We go back to the favourite and that troubled passage through last year’s race in which he flashed home into fifth behind Magical Zoe.
“It was frustrating but good as well, “Mullins reflects.
“I came away thinking I have a horse who can win a major handicap and as things turned out we’re back here again next week rather than going elsewhere.
"Having a horse of that calibre is nice. So, while I only came away with fifth-placed prize money, the dream was still alive and that’s what it’s all about too.
“I hope we have him in a better position this time too. His riders know him now off by heart and things are good. I think he’s improved and matured since last year.”
But don’t rule out Ethical Diamond. How can you after his victory in the Duke Of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot?
And for Mullins that was the sign that the rich promise at home in County Carlow was finally being transferred to the track itself.
“He’d been very frustrating. What we see on the gallops was way better than what we were getting on the racecourse and he’s a very tough ride, especially in a race where he can be inclined to be very free," the trainer admitted.
“We put a hood on him last time and covered him up and I think we’ll do the same thing at York and hopefully we’ll get the daylight at the end of the race. Because if he does, I think he has the speed to go ‘bang’ and come through it.
“That happened at Ascot and hopefully we can go very close to repeating the dose at York and maybe get up to another level. The hood is a big factor and so is the fact we’re learning about him all the time. You start to put things together after a while don’t you... otherwise you go out of business."
Little danger of that in Closutton. But a big warning to the connections of the other Sky Bet Ebor runners that Willie Mullins is about to win the great race for the third time.
But with which one? And as the two horses return to their boxes after posing for photos, you still don’t know.
No firm answers on this leg of the trip, but the appetite whetted for one of the great Flat handicaps, and as you pass Galopin Des Champs taking it all in from the comfort of his box, for what lies ahead as the nights draw in too.
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