Part three of the stable tour and our star columnist takes you through his team of open chasers and hurdlers for the 2023-24 jumps season.
Chasers
Allaho
He's in good shape. He had a very unusual injury last year, he got a little bleed in his spleen. He just got that doing normal exercise at home, very unusual, but he is a big unit, a huge horse, probably one of the biggest horses we have in the place here. When they’re big it's great but sometimes they can maybe be too big, anyhow he's won two Ryanair Chases and hopefully on course for another one this season. People will say why not go for the Cheltenham Gold Cup as he won the Punchestown Gold Cup, but it's an extra two furlongs up a hill, whereas Punchestown isn't as demanding as a wet ground Cheltenham. I'll be happy to get him to Cheltenham for something, back anywhere. He'll probably start off in the Clonmel Oil as he has no penalty there this year and that will be a nice place to start just down the road. The King George is a possibility but at the moment I'm just looking at the one race at Clonmel.
Allegorie de Vassy
Allegorie de Vassy finished second at Cheltenham when she was beaten by JP's good mare Impervious. I imagine we'll be planning the mares' route again this year. We might start off on Clonmel Oil day in November in the T.A. Morris Memorial listed race for mares. There's a lack of open races for mares in Ireland after that so we might go to Carlisle or just wait for Christmas.
Appreciate It
We have a choice, we can either go two or two and a half miles and I think towards the end of the season we'll probably end up aiming him for the Ryanair. He could start off in the Hilly Way, Clonmel Oil or Fortria Chase - they're the sort of places he could start off all being well.
Blue Lord
Blue Lord will probably start off over two miles and aim for Christmas and the Dublin Racing Festival and possibly end up in the Champion Chase all being well.
Bronn
He's a real chasing type and was third in Grade 1s at Cheltenham and Aintree last season. He could start off in a listed chase at Thurles in November and will be going down the staying handicap route, possibly races like the Coral Gold Cup, Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown or Irish National. He could also get an entry in the National at Aintree and Welsh National.
Capodanno
I thought he was a Gold Cup horse but he didn't do enough for me last season so we'll go down the handicap route. He jumps, he stays, probably likes nicer ground and I'll get him going earlier and get more runs into him. He ran in the Aintree National last season and a return there is where my head is at the moment.
Classic Getaway
He won nicely early on, beating Minella Cocooner which wasn't too bad, but he missed a lot of the season and then had a hurried preparation for Punchestown where he finished fourth in a top-class race behind Feronily. He'll probably go for a winners of one race and has the class for a Grade 1 over fences, we just have to keep him right. He'll be going down the Grade 1 route over three miles.
Dinoblue
Dinoblue has come back very strong. She got a lot of experience in handicaps last term and it looks like the mares' chase at Cheltenham is the route that's open to her this season.
Dysart Dynamo
He disappointed me a little last season. If he would settle in his races, he could go up to two and a half miles. We'll probably start him off in the Fortria Chase at Navan or Poplar Square Chase at Naas. He needs to relax a bit more and get a longer trip otherwise he's taking on Champion Chase horses over the minimum trip.
El Fabiolo
He's a lovely horse to have around the place and looks like he's Champion Chase material. He's an up and coming two-miler and has all the credentials to go to the top. He's good and strong and learning all the time and we're delighted to have him here. This is one of the top-notchers in the yard I think.
Flame Bearer
He had a small setback earlier in the season and had a small bit of surgery which was very minor but will hold him up in the first part of the season. All being well, we might get the second part of the season out of him - he did very well towards the end of last season. But if he has to miss the season so be it, we'll just have to monitor how we go.
Gaillard du Mesnil
I'd imagine he'll be a Grand National type horse again. We'll try to get him out early enough and get plenty of runs into him and aim him for the Irish or Aintree National.
Gentleman de Mee
Gentleman de Mee will probably have the same sort of route as last year, maybe starting in the Poplar Square at Naas. We'll have a look at the Tingle Creek - he was a bit disappointing in it last year when he was probably a bit too free over the first few fences but that's his style of racing. I'll have a word with connections to see if they're keen to go there again or maybe just keep him for the Dublin Racing Festival where he won last season.
Galopin des Champs
He was ridden fairly cold in the Cheltenham Gold Cup which I was delighted with as I didn't want to get into the early exchanges and he came through at the right time. Hopefully we can repeat the dose this year and we'll probably keep the same routine: John Durkan Chase, Dublin Racing Festival and onto Cheltenham and then back to Punchestown. He's come through all his pre-training well and will be starting work shortly. I'm very happy with him. The Joh Durkan is a week earlier this year which suits horses that also want to run at Christmas but it worked last year skipping Christmas and we'll probably do the same this year. At Cheltenham he travelled so well and Paul had the confidence in him to let him travel. You just hope traffic doesn't get in the way - when you ride horses like that in three-mile chases you're always worried about traffic and fallers, and horses making mistakes in front of you. That's the gamble you take, but when you have a horse with this fellow's gears you can take that risk.
Haut En Couleurs
I'd imagine he'd start off maybe in a valuable two-and-a-half-mile handicap. We ran him over three miles plus in the French Champion Hurdle in May and I'm not sure he enjoyed the longer trip so we'll keep him to two and a half to three miles in handicaps and hope we can land a big one. He was a little disappointing last season, promising more than he delivered, but he might still have a nice mark and we'll try to make use of that.
I Am Maximus
He won the Irish National last season, doing it the hard way. He didn't like going around the inside on the first circuit so Paul switched him to the outside and it seemed to suit him. I'd imagine his big aim this year is going to be the Aintree National so we'll get him away early enough in the season, maybe giving him a run over hurdles to open his pipes.
James du Berlais
He has disappointed us a little and is only a winner of one for us, but he might have a nice mark for some of those two-and-a-half-mile-plus handicap chases. I see him more as a staying chaser rather than a two-and-a-half miler and I'll probably be aiming him for big handicaps.
Janidil
He's won three over fences and is a Grade 2/3 chaser who might try some of the big handicaps as well. He could stay this year and we'd like to try him over a trip in handicap company. I've no big aim for him at the moment.
Kilcruit
He's on a break for the first half of the season and we'll try to get him back in the spring. He'll miss Christmas and probably the Dublin Racing Festival and if thing comes right, it will be next spring and there's no great aim for him at the moment except maybe Fairyhouse or Punchestown. I'd imagine a nice handicap at one of those festivals.
Monkfish
We'll probably start him off over hurdles and he seems fine - good and sound. He's a horse I'd really like to get back over fences but I've got to be very careful on the ground he runs on, I think it has to be soft or heavy. Certainly he wouldn't want to be running on autumn good ground because he's a big horse. He's spectacular when he's right but one of his runs was on good ground and he hasn't been the same since. Hopefully he'll make it back to nearly as good as he was.
Mr Incredible
He has his own way of doing things but jumps well and stays all day. The Welsh National is a target all being well.
Saint Roi
He's a very keen horse and takes a lot of riding but he won a Grade 1 at Leopardstown at Christmas when the ones in front maybe went a shade too fast. He's by Coastal Path and I think he can stay further and fences seem to settle him, so we might go down the Ryanair route with him, maybe running him over two and a half. He was second over that trip at Aintree to Banbridge, which is good form, and in his second year over fences he might be a lot more settled.
Sir Gerhard
He was a very good bumper horse and was brilliant over hurdles. I'm going to start him off chasing again this season but he's a horse that's hard to keep right. I have a feeling we might be changing tack during the season and if his jumping doesn't hold up he's one I have earmarked as a Stayers' Hurdle horse. He has the ability and the stamina and is just hard to keep right over fences. If he stays right over fences he's a Ryanair or Gold Cup horse, but I've a funny feeling he might end up back over hurdles. He has an official rating of 155 over fences and if his jumping holds up he's probably well handicapped so a big handicap mid-season might seem the plan - he could be a Thyestes horse and if that doesn't work out, the Stayers' Hurdle.
Hurdlers
Asterion Forlonge
He'll start off hurdling. He hurdled last season and stayed sound and he's looking good this season. If his first few runs over hurdles are good we might stay hurdling, but we could mix it over fences. If he jumps very well he has the ability and he was going so well in the King George two years ago and he ran well enough in the Gold Cup considering he came back with an injury. The first hint he's not going well we could retire him - he doesn't owe us anything.
Bring On The Night
He had another little issue after running at Royal Ascot. I had intended on going over fences with him but that's been put on hold and he's a couple of months behind the rest of the string. I'd imagine we'll be looking at half a season over hurdles. With his rating he looks like he could be one for a nice handicap somewhere.
Echoes In Rain
Echoes In Rain is in the Loughbrown Stakes at the Curragh and could start off over hurdles in the Hatton's Grace and have a similar path to Cheltenham as last year.
Gala Marceau
Gala Marceau won in Paris but had a long season. She's back in good form but I don't want to get going until around Christmas time unless she's absolutely jumping out over the door at home. She's one for the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham, that will be her main aim.
Impaire et Passe
He was awesome when winning the Ballymore and was a real, real find from last year. Chatting to Simon [Munir] and Isaac [Souede] we're keen to stay hurdling. We might go to the Hatton's Grace - he'll also have an entry in the Morgiana - but he'll definitely stay hurdling and hopefully be good enough to be a champion hurdler. He's second favourite for the Champion Hurdle and is a lively horse to go down that route. I’d imagine he'll go to the Hatton's Grace, Dublin Racing Festival and then on to Cheltenham. He appears to have the pace and to be involved in a Champion Hurdle you need that two and a half mile stamina with a bit of pace.
Lossiemouth
She's been very good, very strong and has been coming back and doing everything well. But she's only a four-year-old and had six runs last season so she had a very busy juvenile season. I'm not keen to get her out as early as normal - I think I'm going to wait to at least Christmas to run her. She's fourth favourite for the Champion Hurdle and favourite for the Mares' Hurdle, you'd have to think the Mares' Hurdle is her target at this point. We'll maybe get one or two runs into her before that which would be plenty. A five-year-old career is always very hard so I'm not going to push her too hard, early in the season anyhow. All her form is fantastic, it's tip-top form.
Risk Belle
She could go novice chasing but she still has a nice mark over hurdles so we'll probably put chasing off until next season and look for a nice handicap with her.
State Man
I think we're going to stay hurdling with him - do exactly what we did last year. We'll try and do something different with Constitution Hill at Cheltenham but that's the sort of route we're going to go, the same as last year. He'll be stronger this year and hopefully he's improved more than Constitution Hill, but it's going to be a hard one. He'd look to have a few races in this country maybe at his mercy.
Zarak The Brave
We've penned in the Prix d'Automne at Auteuil in November for Zarak The Brave, however he's only four and had a busy enough summer winning the Galway Hurdle, and the preparation for that takes a lot out of a four-year-old. He disappointed in Tipperary but seems fine now. Whether I go for an autumn campaign or give him a longer break with a view to Christmas and the spring is a decision I'm going to have to make in the next fortnight.
Read more of the Willie Mullins Stable Tour
Part one: The novice chasers
Part Two: The novice hurdlers
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
