Anthony Bromley has reflected on El Fabiolo's comeback win and is looking forward to what the future might hold for the Joseph O'Brien-trained Talk The Talk.
The chestnut son of Born To Sea was seemingly en route to winning the Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle prior to falling at Leopardstown on December 27 and Bromley, racing manager for owners Simon Munir & Isaac Souede, says it is all systems go to the Dublin Racing Festival.
"Joseph has said he's the best young horse he's ever had for jumping," Bromley told the New Year's Day edition of the Nick Luck Daily Podcast. "That's what he's said to us, he's had Grade 1 chasers and he said they were not as good as this horse at the same stage of their career.
"He is very bullish on this horse, he's very excited about the horse and all being well he'll go to the Dublin Racing Festival. We'll see, Willie (Mullins) hasn't really been firing with all of his maiden hurdlers yet but there will be something to come out of his pack to challenge us at the DRF.
"He's very lightly raced and the world's his oyster. I wasn't sure we had a Grade 1 horse this horse has popped up out of the pack which is nice.
"There was definitely at least three big players who have enquired. A price was put on the horse and the horse hasn't been sold. It's a statement of everything has got a price, they (owners) are trading now and if the price was right and tempted them at certain times... but at the moment it doesn't look like he's getting sold.
"Hopefully the DRF bounces us into Cheltenham and the other spring festivals."
Talk The Talk is a 10/1 chance with the sponsors for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle, the opening event of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival on March 10.
What next for El Fabiolo?
Bromley was thrilled to see El Fabiolo back to winning ways on Wednesday and has confirmed the Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old would remain over hurdles this season.
El Fabiolo won six times from 12 starts over fences, including four at the highest level, but he hadn't tasted success since February 2024 and fell three times in top chase company last season.
Returned to the smaller obstacles in Punchestown's Make The Tote App Your New Year's Resolution NYE Hurdle, he made all the running to score comfortably by eight and a half lengths under Danny Mullins.
Connections are weighing up their next move but Bromley was delighted to see the horse rediscover his mojo.
He said: "It was incredible, it was just so heartwarming. He has broken our hearts on numerous occasions, most notably that Champion Chase, when it all went wrong. And Jonbon had been taken out on the morning of the race, it did look like a case of just turn up and we'll win. And it just shows you it's not quite like that this game.
"His jumping has gone to pieces a bit over fences. Just to see him... that stride, and going down the back straight you're thinking, 'I know he was going to pull, I just hope he doesn't fall in a heap'. And he certainly didn't, he lengthened and continued away and jumped the last beautifully and went away for Danny Mullins. It's a shame that Paul Townend couldn't ride him but Danny's such a great... you can't even really call him just a replacement. It was a top person to get on the horse.
"Poor JJ (Slevin) couldn't ride because he was stood down for a week having had a fall in a novice chase at the weekend. So it's been a funny old week with jockeys, but it was just really good to see El Fabiolo do that."
In terms of next steps, trainer Willie Mullins mentioned the Red Mills Hurdle as a potential stepping-stone towards a tilt at the Grade 1 Aintree in the immediate aftermath of the race and Bromley is in favour of the move rather than potentially drop back to two miles in the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.
"I think you'd get an entry (in the Irish Champion), but I wouldn't mind just saying to go for the Red Mills at Gowran," he said. "That's two and a half (miles), and then miss Cheltenham and go to Aintree.
“But our WhatsApp groups with Willie and everyone yesterday afternoon got quite warm with different ideas. I mean, I even threw the idea of a Graded hurdle at Auteuil because it did look like he wanted to go left-handed. But anyway, he won't be going to Auteuil until after the festivals anyway, I would say.
"It was mooted about the Irish Champion Hurdle. I can't think a yielding-ground, two-mile, fast-run race against Lossiemouth there is going to be playing to his strengths. And even then yesterday, he did jump a few of the hurdles on all fours. But I think that in a two and a half-mile type of a race, you can measure them better. I wouldn't be a big advocate for the Irish Champion, but Willie will have his say.
"But things are always a movable feast. And you never set anything in stone because things change. Suddenly, other soldiers can pop up, like this horse, you know, he wasn't even thought of as a Champion Hurdle horse. He could certainly bring himself into that division if his next run did go really well, I suppose.
"I wouldn't be quite sure about three miles. He's so free-going. I suppose you could try it at a place like Aintree, but you couldn't try it really at Cheltenham. If you looked at him, he's 17-2. I mean, he's massive. When he gets one wrong, he's going to get one wrong, which is what unfortunately happened over fences.
"Paul said at Punchestown in May that he was dotting up in that, he couldn't see him getting beat in that chase when he came down two-out. But you couldn't put him back chasing because you're just worried for the horse. That's one thing we agreed on, that was definitely confirmed - we weren't going back chasing. Well, you can never say never but the idea wasn't to go chasing this season now. I don't think any of us can go through watching him over fences."
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