Patrick Mullins has paid tribute to Ferny Hollow who sadly passed away from the injuries sustained in a fall in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork on Sunday.
The nine-year-old ran nine times under Rules, winning six races including the 2020 Weatherbys Champion Bumper and the Grade One Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown in December 2021.
Mullins, who rode Ferny Hollow five times and was on board at Cork, said: “He’s been part of the yard here for five years, been around a long time and he’s always been a character.
“We were very excited about him as a bumper horse and it took a while for us to get to know him. Once we put the hood on him it transformed Ferny Hollow. He was unbeaten in the hood. He just raced too keenly the first two times.
“Paul Roche at home had nursed him back to health a few times, he always had little niggly injuries but was running a great race in the Hilly Way. He jumped fantastically and had settled well.
“I was probably just about to land into third so we’d have finished second given what happened at the last with Banbridge which would have been a great run and he’s just come down at the back of the second last. He got up and walked back into the stable yard but unfortunately deteriorated there and he didn’t make it.
“It’s very, very sad. He didn’t really get to fulfil his potential."
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