Donn McClean gets the inside track on the Willie Mullins team for the new season
It is only really when you see them all in one place that you fully appreciate the depth of equine talent that Willie Mullins has assembled for the season ahead.
The champion trainer welcomed members of the racing press to Clusutton on Wednesday morning and talked through some of the horses who could have a significant impact this year.
Al Boum Photo
He’ll have an entry in the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown but that might be too near to Christmas, so we might wait until Christmas and maybe do something like we did last year with him. It’s possible that we’ll go for the Savills Chase at Tramore with him again on New Year’s Day. That obviously worked well last year. Being fresh could be important to him. We’re guaranteed to get nice ground there for him.
Allaho
He has had a small setback, a shoe came off and jabbed him, but hopefully he will be out in a beginners’ chase in December. I’m going to try to get him out as early as I can.
Bacardys
We were very happy with him on Sunday at Navan. He could go for the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, but that might come a bit soon. The three-mile hurdle at Leopardstown at Christmas could be a good race for him.
Bapaume
He jumped very well the last day at Fairyhouse, but he weakened quickly. His jumping is very good, but he may be one of those unusual horses who stays well over hurdles but who needs to come back in trip over fences. We’ll try him over a shorter trip next time.
Bellshill
He has options, but I’d imagine that he will go to Leopardstown at Christmas for the Savills Chase. Hopefully the ground will be softer there than it was last year.
Benie Des Dieux
I took her out of the Morgiana Hurdle at the weekend, she goes for the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle. Hopefully she will go back to Cheltenham for the Mares’ Hurdle. I don’t know if there’s anything that I really want to win over fences with her. She’s very good at this discipline, and I’m very happy to stick with it. She won the French Champion Hurdle too over a trip, beating their very good mare De Bon Coeur, so I’m happy enough to stick at that job with her.
Berkshire Royal
He’s a little bit behind the others, so he won’t appear out until Christmas. I think that he’s a nice type. He’s going to be a nice dual purpose, flat/hurdling horse. As much as I want to see him over hurdles, I also want to get him back on the flat. He has good form on the flat, and he could improve with age.
Blazing Emily
She disappointed me last time in Cork. Paul said she never travelled from the start. We’ll keep her up in trip, two miles and six furlongs or three miles, mares’ races.
Blue Sari
I wanted to run him last weekend, but some complication arose so I couldn’t run him, which was disappointing. He runs at the weekend over two and a half miles, which should be okay for him. He has schooled well and I’m very happy with him.
Burrows Saint
He wants a trip. He will be entered in Leopardstown, I’m not sure that he’ll do too much between now and then. The Savills Chase could be a good option for him. The obvious target for him this year is probably the Aintree National, but I want to go on with him now, so we’ll enter him and see how far up the ladder he can go. Certainly, with his jumping ability and with what he showed us at Fairyhouse, he could take a step forward.
Cabaret Queen
She goes for the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury. She was impressive in winning at Limerick and that is a logical place for her to go now.
Carefully Selected
We have a beginners’ chase at the end of November at Fairyhouse, and I have that pencilled in for him.
Chacun Pour Soi
He’s in great order. We had been waiting for him to come out for a long time, until he came out and did what he did at Naas and Punchestown. You have to hope that he can repeat that type of form this year. He’ll be entered in the John Durkan Chase and the Hilly Way Chase. He’s not fragile, just different things happened with him last year and, when he came right, it was just too late to go to Cheltenham. He has been good this year so far, no problems with him. He could go out in distance, but we’ll probably stick to the minimum trip with him. He’ll go on any ground.
Cilaos Emery
He was very good the other day. He has only run twice over fences, he doesn’t have a lot of experience. He could go for the Hilly Way Chase. I think he’d stay all right, but his style of running means that he is very effective over two miles.
Colreevy
She’s entered in Cork at the weekend, and I imagine she’ll go there. The ground will suit her there and she seems to be in good order.
Concertista
She’s ready for action, she’s in terrific order.
Douvan
He will make his reappearance on Thursday at Clonmel. The conditions of the race suit him, and he seems to be in good form at home, so we’ll just get him back out on the track and see how he is. It’s nearly a victory to have him back in the form that he is in, I’m happy to let him take his chance in this type of race. We’ve had a clear run with him and we think he’s going well, even though we haven’t pressed too many buttons at home. I’d be happy to finish sound and put up a good run.
Duc Des Genievres
His first run back at the other day was a little disappointing, but a few of ours have been like that, and at least I’ve got him back out on the track. He will be entered in the John Durkan, but we’ll probably stick at that two-mile trip. He’ll probably go for the Grade 1 two-mile chase at Leopardstown at Christmas.
Eglantine Du Seuil
She’s entered at Punchestown at the weekend, so we’ll start her off there. She’s rated 139, so she’s probably going to have to improve. The Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham would be her objective as well. She’s fit and well and going out in trip will be a big help to her.
Elfile
I was going to go chasing with her, but we’ve changed our minds just in the last few days, we were just having a chat here the other day, so it looks like we’re going to stay hurdling. We’ll be looking at those longer distance mares’ hurdles. She was second to Honeysuckle in Fairyhouse, and we thought she ran a cracker there. Honeysuckle seems to set the standard at the moment, and I’d be hoping that our mare might not be too far behind her.
Faugheen
We’ll find a beginners’ chase for him. He’s entered at Punchestown at the weekend, and I’d be happy to let him take his chance. He’s an older horse, and I want to get him back running. I’ve been happy with his schooling. He has always been a good jumper.
Fly Smart
He’s a very smart horse. He’s not doing much this morning. His French form is impressive, a lot of the horses that finished behind him have won since. I think that he’s one that might be an interesting novice hurdler. He’s just a bit behind the others, he might not appear out until Christmas or the new year.
Footpad
He goes to Thurles later this month. There’s a two-mile-six-furlong race there that should suit him. My plan is to go up in trip with him, I have no problem going three miles with him, as a hurdler he always wanted a trip. But he has to come back and put a bad year behind him.
Foveros
He goes for the Royal Bond. It’s hard to know what to make of the Galway race that he won, it was almost like a flat race, they took out all the hurdles in the back straight. But he’s sharp over two miles.
Frere Tuck
He’s a nice young horse, who will go novice hurdling. I haven’t much done with him.
Getabird
He is another horse who seems to be better going right-handed than going left. He could step up in trip, but he has enough to be able to win over two or two and a half miles.
Great Field
He’s ready to run. He could go to the Hilly Way Chase at Cork.
Kemboy
We’ll aim for Christmas with him. He seems to really like Leopardstown, so the Savills Chase there at Christmas, the race that he won last year, should be a good race for him again.
Klassical Dream
He seems in great order. I’m hoping for a good run in the Morgiana Hurdle on Saturday. The rain is coming, which will suit him. He’ll go on good ground, but we prefer juice in the ground for him. He seems to do plenty at home, and we’ve been aiming him at this race, so we’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t run well.
Laurina
There’s a mares’ chase in Thurles and there’s a beginners’ chase in Gowran in the next 10 days, so hopefully she’ll make one of those. She looks like a real typical chasing mare, and she jumps well. I’m happy with her.
Melon
He ran well the other day. He met a good horse (in Fakir D’Oudairies), and he had to give him 8lb. To me, it looked like he wants to go up in trip. I’d be hoping that he will improve for that run, and that he will improve when he gets a trip.
Min
We’re aiming for the John Durkan Chase with him. He’s fit and well and he likes the track.
My Sister Sarah
She is another who will be going down the mares’ hurdles route. She has to improve on her rating if she is going to be competitive in the top mares’ races, but there will be other options for her during the season, and she might be well-in in the Grade 2 or Grade 3 races. She’s not the biggest mare in the world, so I wouldn’t really want her to be carrying penalties. Getting her in to a nice race over a trip I think will suit her.
Next Destination
Hopefully he will be back to us soon enough. We’ll see when he comes back, what shape he’s in and what he’s done. We’d hope to go novice chasing with him, but if he’s back too late, we might wait until next season.
Penhill
He goes for the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, and I’ve been very happy with his preparation so far. We’re just going to go with him this year. We may as well find out early if he’s going to stay sound or not, but so far so good.
Pont Aven
He might go to the Troytown Chase, and then the Paddy Power Chase at Christmas. Three and a half miles was just too much for him the other day at Cork, but he jumped great, I think that he’s a natural jumper, and he’s a horse that I hope could collect in a big handicap rather than a big novice race. The way that he gallops and jumps suggests that he could be a horse for those big handicaps.
Real Steel
He won well at Down Royal last time. He’s in the King George, and I think that he wants to go up in trip, after his performance the other day. The people who ride him seem to think that he’s at his best going right-handed, so Kempton could suit him. He’s also in the John Durkan. I was very pleased with what he did in the north, and I think he has to get his chance at a high level. If he’s not up to it, he can drop back.
Robin De Carlow
We’ll probably go a similar route with her to the route that we went with Camelia De Cotte last year. She has done very well this year, and she might just appreciate a bit of nicer ground.
Royal Rendezvous
We’ll be looking for a two-mile chase or a two-and-a-quarter-mile chase for him. Something under two and a half miles. He won a point-to-point, but he’s very keen, he likes to get on with his job and his jumping. His owner, Dr Peter Fitzgerald of Randox Health, probably bought him with the Grand National in mind, but he looks more a two-miler than a stayer to me.
Saldier
We go back to the last hurdle at Naas last year. We think he had every chance there when he fell. He broke his nose quite badly there, it was shattered, it wasn’t just a fracture. He broke it into half a dozen pieces and it took him a long time to recover. I wasn’t really happy with him at the end of last year, but I am much happier with him now. I think he’s back to normal, I think he’s back in good shape and I hope that he can run well in the Morgiana Hurdle on Saturday.
Sayo
He’s in the Florida Pearl Chase at Punchestown at the weekend. I think that he wants a trip, and he wants his ground, and he wants a change of tactics, we held him up at Cork last time, so we might change our tactics at the weekend.
Sharjah
He’s ready for the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown on Saturday. He’ll go for that race, along with Klassical Dream and Saldier.
Stormy Ireland
She’s not the biggest mare in the world, but she’s a fantastic jumper. She has great scope for a small mare. She’s in a listed mares’ hurdle at Punchestown on Sunday, and the conditions of the race suit her well. Maybe that’s where she’ll go. But I’d love to go chasing with her, so I have to discuss with her owner Jared Sullivan, what he wants to do. He’s not as keen as I am to go chasing with her, but he’s never seen her jump. All the guys here, Ruby, Paul, they think she’s like a cat over her fences. She’ll probably go to Punchestown at the weekend anyway, then we’ll see what she’ll do.
Tornado Flyer
He was very good the other day at Naas. The Racing Post Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas is probably the race for him now. He’ll go on good ground, and he has plenty of ability.
Un De Sceaux
He will probably go for the Tingle Creek Chase again. He’s an unbelievable horse. He really shouldn’t be able to be doing what he is doing at the age of 11. The ground the way it is at the moment really suits him well.
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