Mullinstown

By Stephen Dwyer

Here’s a question: how much prize money did horses trained by Willie Mullins win over the 2010 Punchestown festival?

Would it surprise you that the Willie Mullins team won a total of €787,830 in prize money over the festival’s five days? This included 12 winners and a plethora of placed horses. Punchestown in 2010 soon became Mullinstown. Paul Townend, still 19 and deputising for Ruby Walsh, had three Grade 1 wins and punters soon latched onto a team in blistering form. One happy gentleman I met after Townend steered Hurricane Fly to beat Solwhit by a neck quipped: “Ruby Walsh is a poor man’s Paul Townend”. While Townend might not be there yet, he has a phenomenal racing brain and gifted hands, and there is no doubt he is the real deal.

Such was the dominance of the Mullins camp over the course of this year’s National Hunt season that it was a fitting week for him to be crowned Irish champion jumps trainer, a title he was winning for the fourth year in a row.

His results for the 2009/2010 season were staggering: 547 runners, 146 winners. This is a very respectable 27% winners-to-runners strike rate. He also trained 90 seconds, 63 thirds and 26 fourths. His total prize money for the year was €2,934,126. To put this into context, his prize money is twice that of his nearest rival, Noel Meade. Mullins’s British counterpart, Paul Nicholls, sent out 533 runners last season, 115 winners, a strike rate of just 21%. Not bad, but 6% below Willie Mullins.

It doesn’t stop there. Out of the top five National Hunt horses in training, three of them are trained by Mullins; Fiveforthree, Thousand Stars, and the exceptional Hurricane Fly. The only omissions from the top five are Solwhit, trained by Charles Byrnes, and Noel Meade’s Go Native.

Of all the Mullins runners at Punchestown, there were a few who were especially impressive. Tarla was the winner of the two mile and two furlongs EBF Mares Hurdle, a filly bought from France who was destined to go chasing next year and may now go back to France for a run over hurdles. Mullins bought the filly on a trip to Paris earlier in the year when the frost claimed Punchestown. Now owned by Rich Ricci she looks a very useful prospect.

Whittling down the winners to just three for the notebook is no easy task, but sticking to hurdlers, the selections below are ones to follow:

Blackstairmountain

After finishing 10th in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Blackstairmountain won the Grade 1 Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle on the first day of Punchestown. He is a very accurate jumper, has won on all types of ground but seems to prefer ground better than soft and at just five, is an exciting prospect for next season. He has already been quoted at 25/1 for the 2011 Champion Hurdle. In the meantime, Mullins has hinted he may run him a few times on good ground on the flat.

Quevega

Without a doubt, the best mare in training, Quevega has won six times from nine starts. These include back to back victories in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham over three miles. She was an impressive third in last year’s Champion Hurdle at Punchestown and this year raced in the longer grade one World Hurdle. She asserted strongly on the run-in and won comfortably. She is already the even money favourite for next year’s David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle but, now that we know she stays three miles, she also has the World Hurdle as an option. Quevega was strongly supported on the day, backed from 100/30 into 5/2 and she may line out for the French Champion Hurdle where a big run can be expected.

Hurricane Fly

Hurricane Fly was sold at Goffs by the Irish National Stud as a yearling for €65,000. His owners, George Creighton and Mrs Rose Boyd, now have a superstar on their hands. After missing this year’s Champion Hurdle through injury, Hurricane Fly was a best priced 14/1 for the 2011 Cheltenham Champion Hurdle. That price collapsed to 5/1 following his victory in the €170,000 Grade 1 Rabobank Champion Hurdle. He beat last year’s winner, Solwhit by a neck but it was the battling, gritty style in which he won that shows this six-year-old son of Montjeu will have every chance of being crowned champion at Prestbury Park next March. A champion novice last season, his wins included the Royal Bond Hurdle, the Future Champions Novice Hurdle and the Champion Novice Hurdle. Hurricane Fly is at his best on good to soft ground. He displays powerful acceleration and jumps fluently and will be one to follow all season long.

By Stephen Dwyer