Ruby Walsh: Willie Mullins revels in perfect working holiday
ANOTHER FRONTIER CONQUERED: Willie Mullins savours the moment after Ethical Diamond's stunning victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar last weekend. Picture: Healy Racing
Willie Mullins left Closutton 10 days ago to travel the world in a week to watch a 25-1 shot in the USA and a 18-1 shot in Australia.
His first stop was at Del Mar, with one horse, two staff, one set of owners, and the hope he wouldn’t be disgraced. The locals didn’t know very much about him, let alone know who he was, but they knew someone had brought a horse that “two starts back” had run in a hurdle race.
David Casey thought Ethical Diamond could “run well” in the Breeders' Cup Turf, and finishing sixth would cover his costs. The HOS syndicate loved the idea, and Willie has never needed a second invitation to pack his suitcase.
People trace his success back to his father, but a massive part of Maureen Mullins is in Willie, and faraway fields should always be explored.
He had never been to Del Mar, never had an entry, let alone a winner, at a Breeders’ Cup and with six months of pressure staring him in the face, a working holiday made lots of appeal.
He has gone straight to Melbourne several times now, so a trip around the world was a new adventure, but not even he could have foreseen the outcome.
Undoubtedly, he loves and appreciates his position in National Hunt racing. Still, the joy, excitement, and delight he expressed in the aftermath of Ethical Diamond's victory in Del Mar was new.
From Tourist Attraction to Florida Pearl, Hedgehunter, Blackstairmountain and Galopin Des Champs, the reaction was always the same. The big deep exhale, “ Thank you, that was great” or “wonderful”, and a professional debrief of how and why, with thought follows on.
Nick Rockett obviously stirred the most profound emotions of pride as he watched his son win the Grand National last April, where no words could flow from his mouth, saying more than any words could, but everyone saw another side of Willie last Saturday night.
As Dylan Browne McMonagle debriefed the out rider on the back stretch at Del Mar, cameras on the paddock side chased the winning trainer to the winner’s circle, who was not as easy to find without his trilby.
Then again, US camera operators are not familiar with that hat either, but what we got was not the usual tip of his hat and a thank you, but a huge smile and the phrase “what the fuck” mouthed straight down the lens.
The most professional and gracious winner in sport had shocked himself, and it was showing. The best politicians wouldn’t shake hands as fast as he was, and the American press corps was shown how to neck bourbon in celebration.
I have been lucky enough to have seen this side of him on many occasions, when all the cameras are off and his work is done, when he stands back and smiles to himself, in thought, and natters away about how lucky he is to have the horses he has but I am less convinced than he is that luck has played any part in his success.
The Del Mar victory wasn't repeated in Melbourne, but he crossed the Pacific to watch one horse, with two staff and the same set of owners.
Having now filled second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth in the race that stops a nation, you can fully expect him not to give up on that quest. He will re-arm his stock and try another way to win the race that eludes him. He lingered long enough in Melbourne to shake hands with Thomas Carberry, who won the Crown Oaks on Thursday afternoon.
Still, as he soared over the South Indian Ocean, 10 hours later, all was normal in Willie’s world as Spindleberry and Il Etait Temps scooted to victory at Clonmel. A nine-day jaunt via London to LA, down to Melbourne and home via Dubai to Dublin might not be everyone's idea of a holiday but if you bring nine lorry loads of horses to Cheltenham in March, where everyone wants a bit of you and the place expects you to dominate, a couple of days on a plane to watch two horses at race meetings where there is no pressure of expectation is bliss.
I have watched him disappear into the gloom after the last race in March or scurry from the car park at Punchestown, headed for home. He is looking for time to reflect and finish his day's work with phone calls to everyone who has invested in him. He is an owl and often reappears when he has wound down and processed everything, looking for a distraction when he is ready to celebrate, so I laughed when he answered the phone from Del Mar two hours after Ethical Diamond had won, from the Breeders' Cup souvenir shop.
He had stopped Bob Baffert for a photo a few minutes earlier and lingered longer than usual in the winners' room as he spoke to people he too only sees on TV.
For the next six months or more, he will be the one posing for photos, the one with an army of horses and the expectation that they will deliver. He has returned to the pleasure of the pressure his role carries.
But as he queued in the shop at Del Mar, he even laughed at himself. His basket was full of gifts for the only Mullins who didn’t realise what had just happened, but he wasn’t going to let Patrick’s daughter Wynter forget what Grandad had just won.
