Equinties - two time champ

Gm Equinauts

Wizard Willie, what a man.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

TWO-TIME CHAMPION

The thing that was almost inevitable until it was actually confirmed happened on Saturday as Willie Mullins was crowned champion jumps trainer in Britain for the second consecutive year.

We all know he is the magician. We all know he is the best trainer in all the land. However, Saturday was a clear numbers game from the master of Closutton, and the manner of his success probably didn’t unfold as many had expected.

GAELIC WARRIOR began the day well for Mullins, and the Grade 2 Oaksey Chase unfolded pretty perfectly. The Aintree Bowl winner obliged easily, and Sean O’Keefe rode APPRECIATE IT to pick up the pieces in second.

Remember how we all wanted GAELIC WARRIOR to run in the King George after his success in the 2023 Faugheen Novices’ Chase?

We all thought IL EST FRANCAIS vs GAELIC WARRIOR would be a Christmas cracker in 2024, but we never got to see it as connections tried to make the Arkle winner into an out-and-out two-miler.

It was clear a few months ago that he wasn’t, and his recent two runs have further added fuel to the fire that he is a stayer and not a speed horse. As such, we could see the seven-year-old head to Kempton this year for a long overdue crack at the King George.

Honestly, this looks like the perfect race for him. Let’s hope he gets there.

This put Skelton on the back foot, and after KITZBUHEL finished third in the Grade 2 Select Hurdle, Mullins hit the front with three races to go.

Many expected JONBON to win the Grade 1 Celebration Chase, something that could keep Skelton’s championship hopes somewhat alive heading into the bet365 Gold Cup. Hell, Mullins even admitted that IL ETAIT TEMPS was just a soldier heading over to Sandown to collect prize money. It was his first run for 359 days.

And yet, he put in the performance of the day to beat the long odds-on JONBON. Denise Coates’ Saturday super boost struck again!

This was quite the performance. Yes, JONBON looked flat, and that was probably due to his long season, but you can’t take anything away from what the gallant grey did.

He’s now beaten GAELIC WARRIOR and JONBON over two miles, and he even has a Grade 1 over 2m4f under his belt from last season’s Aintree Grand National Festival. 

IL ETAIT TEMPS is a really good horse who has been criminally overlooked at almost every turn. His SP for all of his Grade 1 wins reads 14/1, 6/1, 3/1, 7/2 & 9/2. He never went off favourite.

So, this win almost confirmed it, but after RESPLENDENT GREY won the bet365 Gold Cup (and LOMBRON finished second for Mullins), it was mathematically impossible for Skelton to catch him. Oh, and JUMP ALLEN obliged in the last to send Mullins hope extra happy.

It was a good day for Team Closutton, though the loss of DANCING CITY in the feature is obviously an asterisk against the day.

Will Mullins be back for a third next year?

Well, Sean Bowen has already stated his intention to pick up right where he left off in the jockeys’ championship, and Skelton has laid down the gauntlet to W. P. Mullins to return next year.

He wont start immediately, he might even wait until 2026, but Mullins will have this in his mind. He’s already the first Irish trainer to win back-to-back British titles; we wouldn’t bet against the wizard landing the treble!

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, the brothers who own the House of Chanel in Paris, had a Sunday to remember at Longchamp. That’s because SOSIE, the 2024 Arc fourth (who went off favourite), and AVENTURE, the 2024 Arc runner-up, both returned to the winners’ enclosure.

Let’s start with the Christophe Ferland-trained AVENTURE, a comfortable winner of the Group 3 Prix Allez France.

For her first run of the season, she won pretty easily. Maxime Guyon sat on the front end and was going very well with 500 metres to go, and when Gyon pressed the button 200 metres later, she quickened up nicely.

As expected, she will come on for this, and she will need to if she is to take on a potentially nice field in the Group 1 Pretty Polly later in the season.

Ferland said: "On that evidence the Curragh against her own sex now comes into the reckoning, because we could look at keeping her to 2,000 metres [ten furlongs]. She has grown and strengthened over the winter and while she is quite lightly made, she has muscled up through her shoulder and behind."
If she is to head back to the Arc, she is a 16/1 shot to win the Longchamp feature in October.

But could the owner-breeders head to the Arc double-handed again? Well, SOSIE got his season off to a flyer by winning the Group 1 Prix Ganay, and much like his owner-mate, he has targets away from France for the summer.

His potential assignment isn’t in Ireland, however. Ascot is where we could see the SEA THE STARS four-year-old later in the campaign for the King George, according to trainer Andre Fabre.

Continuing on this, Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager to the owners, said:  "Beforehand we were very clear, they hadn't run since the Arc and had spent the winter at home on the farm, so I have to say well done to the team for their work with Sosie and Aventure. 

 "Everything is open to him; there's the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the King George, while we'll also talk to Andre to see whether we consider races like the Eclipse over a shorter trip. The second half of the year will be geared towards another try in the Arc."

That’s a stellar list of targets, one that will require a proper horse to turn up to. Connections have one with SOSIE, and he will naturally improve for the run.

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

SKUKUZA - SATURDAY 14.40 HAYDOCK

With the jumps gone, it’s worth having a look at these early-season Flat meetings with an eye to the rest of the campaign.

SKUKUZA fits into this category as he ran a fine race on his seasonal reappearance at Haydock on Saturday sitting nicely off the pace, and when Rossa Ryan asked him to go, he picked up nicely. He was caught in a bit of a pocket with a furlong to go, but when he had enough space, he was just caught for a bit of toe when he probably needed the run.

He’s lightly enough raced for a four-year-old, and he could be interesting going forward.

SALVER - SATURDAY 15.00 HAYDOCK

Unless you’re completely new to this newsletter, you’ll know that SALVER has been a real cliff horse for us this season. And then the money came for him Saturday and we thought ‘no, please not now’. He didn’t win the Hurdle 2 Select Hurdle in the end but he was damn close, running a huge race on ground which we assumed would be way too quick for him. We’re highlighting him on that basis and he is truly a proper horse, not an underrated one.

Soft ground next year, bang.

RISK ON

17.05 SIMPLY ASTOUNDING

This girl could be simply astounding by name, by nature today - she’s certainly bred for it. This would be a rare Irish play for us based on pedigree. By WOOTTON BASSETT and out of super mare MINDING, her half brother HENRY LONGFELLOW won first time out and this girl can do too. Aidan’s string looked like they needed the run a few weeks ago but he’s firing now. 11/10 is a win bet on an otherwise quiet day.

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