Willie Mullins column: Weekend preview

Thurles Sunday

13:10 Allegorie De Vassy

She was very impressive on very heavy ground which I didn’t think would suit her at Limerick last time. I would think the nicer ground on Sunday would be an advantage to her and she looks to be a top-class mare in the making. Unless she does something untoward she will take a lot of beating.

13:40 Chacun Pour Soi

We’re heading out in trip with him. The conditions of the race suit him, and I think he’ll handle the track and ground. There’s a lot to like about him. He’s 11 now and unlikely to be improving but his rating gives him every chance. He looked to be travelling very well at Christmas when he made a bad mistake at the second last which has sort of been a feature of his runs over the last couple of seasons. His jumping just hasn’t been quite as good as it used to be when he was a younger horse, hence going out in trip. Giving him more time to jump going maybe a-mile-an-hour slower will help.

13:40 Haut En Couleurs

He’s probably not as well suited by the conditions of the race but I need to get runs into him. He’s a little hard to place at the moment and hopefully we’ll learn a fair bit here.

13:40 Royal Rendezvous

Another 11-year-old who has been a good servant to Dr Fitzgerald. He’s by King’s Theatre and I think this track will suit him, going right-handed. The fact it’s not heavy winter ground is another plus and he could go well at a nice price.

15:10 Embassy Gardens

We’re going out to nearly three miles here. This could be an Albert Bartlett horse and we’ll see what he does on Sunday. It’s a hot race but the extra three and a half furlongs will be a huge help to Embassy Gardens, looking at how he ran the last twice. He could be one to put in your notebook for Cheltenham.

16:10 Billaway

This is his first run of the season and we’ve elected to bring him to Cheltenham fresher this year. We’re putting cheekpieces on, David Christie has a couple in there who could give him a lot to think about but whatever happens our fellow will improve, and it should leave him nearly right for Cheltenham if we don’t have another run in between.

News round-up and recent winners

The Clarence House Chase has been moved to Cheltenham next week and we’ll go there with Energumene. I know the prize-money will be lower but it looks an opportunity at a racetrack we’d be happy to go to with him. All being well we’ll possibly see him back in Cheltenham earlier than expected.

Klassical Dream is making progress from his small setback and while it’s going to be tough to make it to Cheltenham, where there’s life, there’s hope. We’ll give him every chance to make it, but I wouldn’t be putting any ante-post bets on him at the minute.

Night And Day is a big mare, and I was very pleased with how she jumped when winning at Clonmel, she was very slick, I thought, for a horse having only her second run over hurdles. She knew what she was doing which will stand her in good stead in better races and she’s towards the top of the betting for the mares’ novices’ hurdle at Cheltenham now. I’d imagine she’ll run again before then.

We found a good opportunity for Gaelic Warrior and he took it in nice style at Clonmel. It leaves a lot of options open for him and I’ll have a good think about where he goes. He’s in the valuable handicap at the Dublin Racing Festival, the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury and all the good novice hurdles so there’s plenty to choose from.

Impaire Et Passe did what he had to do in the Sky Bet Moscow Flyer at Punchestown. I was very pleased with how he did it over that shorter trip. He’s a horse that’s going to keep improving.

Westport Cove did everything right in the bumper at Fairyhouse and Patrick was very pleased with him. He’s a horse who’s done enough now to line-up in the bumper at Cheltenham. Whether he’ll go to the Dublin Racing Festival first I don’t know. We’ll see how he comes out of the race and whether he needs freshening up or more experience.

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