Mullins expecting at least 5lb improvement from Hurricane Fly
The nine-year-old took his tally of Grade One victories to 18 when lifting the Ryanair Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday, defeating Jezki and Our Conor in fine style.
Hurricane Fly will return to Leopardstown next month for the Irish Champion Hurdle before attempting to retain his Cheltenham crown.
“He seems fine, I suppose he’s tired and you know he’d had a race. He lost a bit of weight, but he’s eaten and doing everything right,” the champion Irish jumps trainer said.
“It was a very tactical race and obviously Jezki got into trouble, Our Conor got a very clear run and our fella had way more tactical speed than the two of them. We know he stays, so I’m very happy with the position at the moment.
“I’ve easily got 5lb to work on. I’ve been saying this fella is stronger than he ever was before. It’s extraordinary for a horse his age and I think I’ve got plenty left. I’ve been saying that all along and I’m happy with that.
“He was beaten at Cheltenham one year when things didn’t go right for us, but every other time he’s been fine.
“I just think the fact he disappointed the year he did that sticks in people’s memories.
“The Irish Champion and then Cheltenham is the plan.”
Phil Smith, the British Horseracing Authority head of senior handicapping, felt Hurricane Fly showed his superiority despite the race not being run to suit.
“He’s the best around at the moment. It was a bit of a messy race,” he told said.
“The way the race was run didn’t actually help any of them with Captain Cee Bee going off 20 lengths clear and so on and he’s only been beaten around 10 lengths by the winner and we know what Captain Cee Bee can and cannot do.
“I suspect that Jezki has probably improved a bit, Hurricane Fly has run below his best but still won comfortably and Our Conor was below his best.
“He ran to just about 170. We think he’s won easily in the end. If we were giving them handicap marks to try to get equality between them next time, we’d want Hurricane Fly to be giving Jezki 5lb judged on that race yesterday.
“The winner came there cruising and he was by far the best horse in the race.”
Hurricane Fly’s jockey Ruby Walsh described him as a “once-in-a-lifetime” horse.
“He was very impressive. He travelled beautifully and quickened up impressively,” he told said.
“He has everything – speed, stamina, he jumps brilliantly.
“It’s a privilege to ride him. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of horse.
“He’s a very, very good horse and I love riding him.”
Meanwhile Dessie Hughes is expecting an improved display from Our Conor in the BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle after being encouraged by his comeback run in the same race.
Last season’s brilliant Triumph Hurdle winner was third behind Hurricane Fly on his return from injury and is set to head back to the Dublin track on January 26, when he could renew rivalries with his old adversaries.
“He’s fine. I was happy enough he got so close. He jumped the last upsides,” said Hughes.
“He didn’t have the finest preparation in the world after he got hurt at Naas and was laid up for three weeks to a month.
“You could call it his first run – Naas was a waste of time – so it was a gutsy performance.
“He’ll come on for that. He came on a lot from Leopardstown (Spring Juvenile Hurdle success in February) to Cheltenham last year. It’s the Irish Champion next time and he’ll be ready for it.”
Analifet is expected to make a complete recovery from the pelvic injury she sustained at Leopardstown on December 26.
The filly, who had been ante-post favourite for Triumph Hurdle, was pulled up early in the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle and has been found to have a fracture.
Although Analifet is unlikely to run again this term, trainer Willie Mullins is confident her racing career is not over.
He said: “I would think she’s out for the season. As far as we are concerned there’s a fracture there.
“Sometimes when they get those injuries it can be just a bad muscle tear and they can come back quicker, but it appears there is a small fracture there.
“It’s a common enough thing and they can make complete recoveries.
“I think Al Kazeem had one last year and what a recovery he made. We see that recovery all the time.”
Rubi Ball could be a surprise package from the Willie Mullins stable in the Crabbie’s Grand National.
Mullins revealed he will give the French import an entry in the world’s greatest steeplechase at Aintree in April.
The Irish Hennessy and Cheltenham Gold Cup are other possible targets for the eight-year-old, who showed top-class form to finish third to Bobs Worth in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown.
“He probably needs more of a test of stamina, but that was very soft ground,” Mullins said.
“The Gold Cup is a possibility. He’s won a Grade One race in France and he’ll certainly get an entry in it.
“The Irish Hennessy would be somewhere to run, but he looks like he is well capable of taking up entries in any of those Grade One staying chases.
“He would get an entry in the Grand National. I possibly should have had a rating for him before he ran the other day, but he was sent over here to win big races.
“Sometimes you can mind horses for the Grand National, but that wasn’t the objective with this fellow coming over here. It was just to see what he could do in Ireland or England.
“He’s got a low rating over hurdles and I think he might not have been rated that high over fences. I might have missed a beat there with him. I’m happy if he’s good enough to go on and be a good horse here.”
