Since the first running of the Dublin Racing Festival, in 2018, Willie Mullins has won 12 races at the meeting, unsurprisingly never having a blank day and failing only once in those six days to have more than one winner.
The meeting has, thus far, had a great spread of winners, but there is an ominous feeling about the fourth renewal, with the champion trainer having his runners in such good form.
If the season began a little slower than usual for the best of the Closutton brigade, Mullins stepped up to dominate the big Christmas festivals and maintained that progress through January.
So, when, at the launch of the Dublin Racing Festival on Monday afternoon, Mullins described himself as “very happy with the whole team” and the stable as being “in a good place”, it is sure to have sent shivers down the spine of his leading rivals.
Saturday’s seven-race card at Leopardstown consists of four Grade 1s, a Grade 2, and two valuable handicaps, all of which Team Closutton will have leading claims in.
The feature is the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, which Mullins hasn’t won since Faugheen strutted his stuff here in 2016, to follow Hurricane Fly’s five in a row, but he holds a strong hand in the bid to wrest the crown back from Honeysuckle.
The somewhat unheralded but nonetheless brilliant Sharjah, who finished runner-up in last season’s Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, heads the team, but Mullins hasn’t given up on Saint Roi, who finished behind Sharjah in the Grade 1 Matheson Hurdle at Christmas.
“Sharjah doesn’t need to improve, but I just hope he doesn’t do what he did last year and make a mistake at the first hurdle down the back, which just threw him completely for the rest of the race,” said Mullins.
“I wasn’t surprised at turn of foot of he showed (winning at Christmas) - we know he has that - but I was probably surprised at how well he was travelling. My eye was drawn more towards Saint Roi, but then to see him coming up and I said ‘wow, this fellow is really travelling’.
“Saint Roi definitely did (run below expectations). I don’t know whether it was our tactics or whether he just wasn’t right on the day, but we were expecting a much better performance. Some horses have their off days, and I think he will improve.
“I’m also hoping Saldier will run a lot better than he did at Christmas. He seemed to need it then. Going back to the day he fell at the last in Naas, against Espoir D’allen, I think that sort of form puts him right into the Champion Hurdle picture.
“But we have to get him back to that sort of form. We haven’t got there yet, and we’re still a good bit off that. We think he’s improving but he’s going to need to improve a good bit more to win this race.”
Mullins has won all three runnings of the Ladbrokes Chase, last year with Chacun Pour Soi, and with Min in 2018 and 2019. Both will be back for another go.
“We got a run into Chacun Pour Soi down in Cork and that paid off well,” said Mullins. “I think he’s in great shape and hoping he’ll come on again. He was fragile in the early part of his career, but once we got him going, he’s been fine.
“We also have Min and Tornado Flyer. We said we were going to miss Christmas with Min and come here and then go to Cheltenham, hopefully, but haven’t fully decided which direction we’re going with Tornado Flyer yet. We’ll see how well he works during the week.”
Douvan, Un De Sceaux and Footpad have all given Mullins recent success in the Patrick Ward & Company Solicitors Irish Arkle, and he dominates the top of this year’s market with Energumene, Unexcepted and Franco De Port.
“He looks a natural chaser,” he said of Energumene. “He easily went back to two miles (last time) so I think he has to take his chance here. I just felt when the horse jumps so well, why waste it going two and a half miles? Let’s see what he can do over two miles against good horses, and I think he passed that test. And he’ll have to pass the test here against better horses. I’d like plenty of juice in the ground for him – he’s a big unit, and you don’t really need fast ground for those type of horses.
“We’ll also have France De Port, who won at Christmas. But was he a lucky winner? We don’t know. They went off at a ferocious gallop that day. He’s a good, solid jumper. He doesn’t do anything very fast early on but if they go a mad pace in this race, he’ll be coming along to mop up the spoils.
“Unexcepted is a very good horse over two miles as well, so it will be interesting to see if he turns up. And he has a very forward style of running. You’ve got to run in those good races, and if he’s not up to that standard we can always drop back and find another opportunity for him.”
Impressive when winning a maiden hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas, Gallaird Du Mesnil tops the market for the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle. While very happy with his charge, Mullins did sound a note of caution: “He’s been very good since Christmas, and the race is working out very well, but I’d rather the race was two and a half miles, to be honest. He was a little keen with Paul, but I think he’ll settle a lot better after getting that run out of his system.
Of Stattler, who is also stepping out of maiden company, he added: “He just wasn’t right for Thurles, where we were going to run him, but he’s back right again. I want to go three miles with him, he’s probably going to be better over it.”
Ganapathi found the progressive Dreal Deal too good last time but Mullins is hopeful of much better to come: “I put that down to a professional horse meeting a real novice. That was just the third run of his life and I think when he met the last hurdle, he didn’t know what to do with it, whereas Dreal Deal was a handicapper on the flat and over hurdles and knew exactly what to do. I’m hoping there’s going to be a good bit of improvement in him. And I think the trip might suit him”
