Plenty to cheer for Mullins despite Bobbyjo reverse
Prince De Beauchene could not quite cap a red-letter day for record-breaking trainer Willie Mullins as he had to settle for second in the At The Races Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse.
Mullins had earlier topped Aidan O’Brien’s total of winners in an Irish National Hunt season as he sent out an early double to take his tally to 156 for the 2012/13 season.
However, Prince De Beauchene, part of a strong John Smith’s Grand National team for Mullins in company with On His Own, finished two lengths adrift of Roi Du Mee as the 8-11 favourite.
Davy Russell executed an excellent front-running ride aboard Roi Du Mee, with last year’s winner Prince De Beauchene travelling on his heels for much of the three-mile-one-furlong trip before a slight jumping error at the fourth-last fence.
He was soon back on the bridle for Paul Townend but Roi Du Mee outbattled him on the run-in, with fellow National contender Seabass running a solid race.
Graham Wylie, owner of Prince De Beauchene as well as On His Own, was perfectly satisfied with his horse’s performance and reports Aintree to be next on the agenda.
He told At The Races: “He ran with the choke out at the start and that’s perhaps why he didn’t quite get home.
“That will take the fizz out of him though and we are happy with that.
“He will probably go straight to the National now. We will see how he is in the morning and maybe he will have a racecourse gallop to help him settle better.”
Mullins echoed those thoughts as he said: “He jumped well bar the one mistake - he just ran too fresh and ran with the choke out. I’m not disappointed, though.”
Winning trainer Gordon Elliott is now mulling the options for Roi Du Mee, who is entered at the Cheltenham Festival and in the National.
He said: “We put a tongue strap on him today and it seemed to bring about a bit more improvement.
“I’m not sure what we’ll do but he’s in the Ryanair Chase and in the National. We hadn’t really looked beyond today and we’ll see how he comes out of this.”
Seabass’ trainer Ted Walsh was satisfied with his runner’s National prep, saying: “That was a good run – he ran up to his mark. Katie (Walsh, jockey) said he said he gave a good blow between the last two.”
Paddy Power pushed out both Prince De Beauchene and Seabass by a couple of points for Aintree, with the pair now 12-1 and 14-1 respectively, while Roi Du Mee is a 20-1 shot from 50s.
Prince De Beauchene’s reverse was a minor blot on the day for Mullins, who looks set to significantly top O’Brien’s mark, which had stood since the 1995/6 season, with nearly three months of the campaign left to go.
Glens Melody equalled the record in the ITBA Fillies Scheme Novice Hurdle before Away We Go swooped late and fast in the attheraces.com Exclusive Barry Geraghty Blog Handicap Hurdle to give Mullins a landmark victory.
Mullins said: “The wet summer we had suited us, a lot of our horses are bigger, heavier types and need a good cut in the ground, which we got all summer.
“We had a huge amount of winners by the start of October, when we are only usually starting in other years. We usually have a quiet summer and get going when the weather changes.
“We kept going with a lot of horses we would usually throw out to grass, we kept them in as the ground was right and it worked.
“The horses are in form and hopefully they can stay like that for another couple of weeks.”
Townend delivered Away We Go (6-1) with a perfectly-timed challenge to see off game frontrunner Dazzling Susie by half a length.
Mullins said: “He seems to like this place and we’ll put him in the Irish National.
“He wouldn’t be as well handicapped over fences, but it might be worth a shot at that kind of prize money and we can always come back for those hurdle races.”
Townend always looked confident aboard 4-6 favourite Glens Melody in her two-and-a-half-mile heat and she was two and three-quarter lengths too good for Byerley Babe.
Mullins said: “She is improving away, but she didn’t jump particularly well until she had to at the last two.
“She showed a good turn of foot to put it to bed and she stayed on well.
“She’ll come back here for the new Grade One mares’ hurdle at the (Easter) Festival.”
Stocktons Wing (5-4) had earlier outpointed Mullins’ Dogora to claim the Grade Two Winning Fair Hurdle and book his ticket to Cheltenham
Winning trainer Charles O’Brien said: “He’ll enjoy the hustle and bustle and I presume he’ll go for the Triumph Hurdle as he’ll have a lot of weight in the Fred Winter.”
The Arthur Moore-trained Home Farm created a 25-1 surprise as he delivered a power-packed finish in the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Beginners Chase.
Warne (9-1) readily accounted for favourite Tammys Hill in the John McCarthy Memorial Hunters Chase, while Milan Bound (6-4 favourite) won the closing Ian Smith Memorial Flat Race.
