Ruby Walsh: The Closutton Express is in overdrive
Kerry football captain Paudie Clifford meets Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs. Pic Credit: Morgan Treacy, Inpho.
As the horses crossed the Melling Road in last Saturday's Grand National, it was impossible to pick the winner. Galia Des Liteaux and Latenightpass had forged to the front and stacked the field behind them.
It was an unusual sight for the race but an exciting one as you scanned the body language of a crowd of jockeys in an attempt to pick which one was going best.
From Bechers on the first circuit, my eyes had been drawn to Paul Townend as I realised I Am Maximus could jump better than I believed he could and, as he rounded the home turn, I wanted him to get a gap and a clear run for more reasons than just winning the National.
There was so much more than just glory in the biggest race on the line for achieving the ultimate aim.
That aim - to be Champion trainer in Britain and Ireland simultaneously - only came into view after Paul Townend had delivered Willie Mullins a fourth Gold Cup aboard Galopin Des Champs at Cheltenham in March.
It is a road Closutton has been on before but has taken eight years to rediscover. The most significant difference then was Willie was closer going to Aintree, and winning the National was not an absolute requirement, but this time it was the only chance.
Il Etait Temps and Impaire Et Passé had done their bit to shorten the journey the days before, but I Am Maximus was the one going best to two out in the National to give Willie Mullins a chance of scaling a mountain he has never previously conquered, the one only the Legendary Vincent O’Brien has.
You cannot possibly bank on winning a Grand National to achieve that, but playing the cards as they fall is how you succeed in sport, and off the bend to two out, Willie Mullins needed Paul Townend to play his right. That part was never in doubt.
Rachael Blackmore switched Minella Indo to his right at the second-last and was joined by Jack Kennedy on Delta Work as they raced to the last. At that time I watched Paul, screaming at him to switch right as they accelerated towards the elbow but wondering why I was, as he changed at the optimum time to produce I Am Maximus with a charge that Minella Indo could not repel - and one, perhaps, than Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls cannot either.
I Am Maximus hadn't just won the National. Well, he had, and that in itself is a massive achievement for the horse, owner, jockey and trainer, but he had also pushed Willie Mullins to the summit in the title race with just 14 days of racing left.
It is not the first time Willie has found himself in this position, but eight years ago, events on this day changed it all. Paul Nicholls pulled a rabbit out of the hat, winning the Scottish National with Vicente, eroding Willie’s lead. He then overtook him with the accumulation of prize money in the following week. Ultimately, it all came down to Un De Sceaux versus Altior at Sandown on the final day of the season. Altior won, and the Closutton contingent retreated to Punchestown to lick their wounds.
Eight years on, an army instead of a team is being sent to Ayr, where every fiver of prize money will be sought in Willie’s bid to go one better. Eighteen horses, two trucks, eight full-time staff, and two drivers left Thursday morning to be joined by six jockeys and a few unsuspecting individuals who will be required to help today.
Uncle Phil will be the first out, at 1.15pm, and could rob some place money, but Paul Nicholls holds the ace with Sans Bruit. Sharjah is next up and, after extensive debate, a shot at three miles was deemed the right choice for him, so fingers crossed.
In the Scottish Champion Hurdle, Dan Skelton holds the ace with L'Eau du Sud, but Bialystok, Westport Cove, and Alvaniy can all run a bit, and the hopes are they can claim some place money to counter Dan's possible success.
Next up, but not for huge money, are Saylavee, A Penny A Hundred and Pink In The Park. They all have plenty of weight to carry, but if they can split and divide the Skelton and Nicholls runners and Closutton can earn the lion's shares of what's available, then that job is done.
The big one is at 3.35pm and, somehow, three of Willie Mullins's six need to get in the money. Stay Away and Broken Halo for Paul and Ballygrifincottage for Dan will all have their supporters, but Spanish Harlem, Macdermott and Klarc Kent have the right novice profiles to get in the mix. It would be some day for Klarc Kent to get into his costume or, for now, Mr Unreliable to actually live up to his name and be Mr Incredible under Patrick Mullins.
Chosen Witness raced too keenly last time out, and a hood will help his cause this afternoon, at 4.10pm, before the ace in the pack, Quai De Bourbon, takes to the track at 4.45pm, with a decent backup in Billericay Dickie. C'Est ta Chance will be the 18th and final runner on the card before the retreat begins for fresh stock and the assault begins for the final push.
And it will, because whatever happens this afternoon at Ayr, those trucks will depart again next week for Perth, Ffos Las, Ludlow and Warwick, and two more will head for Sandown next Thursday with as big an army as the one that went to Ayr. The Closutton Express is in overdrive.
