Elliott throwing down gauntlet to Mullins in no uncertain manner
That was certainly one of the big lessons to be learned over the four days of Leopardstown and that is good for racing and augurs well for the rest of the season.
It is not that anyone in their right mind would take pleasure in Mullins failures.
Indeed, one never hears a bad word said about the man and that includes from fellow trainers, many of whom, you would have thought, might be capable of the odd fit of jealousy.
No, it is just that racing needs serious competition to be seen at its best and Mullins now has a real challenge on his hands in Gordon Elliott and there are plenty of others also doing quite nicely, which can only be good for the game.
When Elliott’s Don Cossack beat Mullins’ Boston Bob in the John Durkan at Punchestown in December it probably gave a hint of what was to come.
There was more of the same a week later when Mullins’ Shaneshill went off at 4-9 to take a Grade 2 over flights at Navan.
But Elliott again had the measure of him, with his impressive No More Heroes beating Shaneshill decisively.
Leopardstown then revealed that there are others more than capable of taking on the Mullins juggernaut and the Carlow handler suffered a number of high-profile casualties, notably Vautour and Kalkir.
Mullins ended the meeting with five winners, perfectly respectable, to go with two at Limerick, but I think most of us would have expected a little more.
But begin to underestimate the man at your peril and it is well to remember the stars in the yard that didn’t show over Christmas.
The likes of Valseur Lido, Un De Sceaux, Tell Us More (runs at Naas tomorrow) and Douvan remained at home and all can be regarded as possible Cheltenham winners.
Anyway, the good thing is that there is now a reasonable spread of good horses and that will help to make the second half of the season far more interesting than seemed possible just a short few weeks ago.
The biggest shock at Leopardstown was surely the defeat of Vautour in the Grade 1 Racing Post Novice Chase.
He went to Leopardstown regarded as essentially unbeatable and with good reason. A brilliant hurdler last season, his debut over fences at Navan was nothing short of spectacular.
He destroyed Clarcam then and there was no reason whatsoever to think those placings could be reversed.
But a bad mistake five from home seemed to knock the stuffing and all the fight out of Vautour and, as he struggled home a sad third, up in front Clarcam was strolling to victory.
Biggest disappointment, at least to me, was the performance of Henry de Bromhead’s Shanahan’s Turn in the Topaz Chase.
We know he was only an ordinary enough horse over flights, but his two successes over fences were deeply impressive.
Those of us who felt he might be the natural successor to Sizing Europe were completely wrong and there is now no possibility of that being the case.
He did travel and jump beautifully, but had nothing left when dipped by Jonathan Burke.
Shanahan’s Turn is surely destined for a major drop in trip and I doubt will ever, at least at a high level, be asked to race over three miles again.
It certainly wasn’t all about Leopardstown at Christmas and one has to mention Enda Bolger’s Gilgamboa, who won at Limerick.
He was superb when making a winning debut over fences at Navan, but was even better in a Grade 2 at Limerick.
The useful mare, Adriana Des Mottes, was getting 18lbs from Gilgamboa and he had her cold when she departed at the last.
You’d imagine Gilgamoba went to Limerick because the shrewd Bolger didn’t want to throw him in at the deep end at Leopardstown, at least not just yet.
But so impressive was the seven-year-old - there is a real style and swagger about the horse - that he can now literally take him anywhere.
Bolger, of course, is a massive fan, and friend, of Bruce Springsteen and called his charge after one of his assistants, Gil Gamboa. So there!
Handicappers are a much-maligned species, but do have a nasty habit of getting things right-at least a lot of the time.
The senior National Hunt handicapper in Ireland is Noel O’Brien and he was entitled to allow himself a little chuckle after Road To Riches had won the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown.
He had Road To Riches going into the race as the highest rated chaser in Ireland, which meant that, as the winner of the Galway Plate, he was, according to O’Brien, superior to Lord Windermere and On His Own, first and second respectively in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The winner of the Galway Plate is generally regarded as a summer horse and surely that is unprecedented. It really was some smart call.
