To be fair Willie Mullins helped provide many iconic moments throughout 2024 but on the Flat at least, the sight of Frankie Dettori jumping for joy after winning the Sky Bet Ebor aboard Absurde ranks very high.
Neither horse nor rider will be back at the Knavesmire in two weeks’ time but Willie will and while he could be treble-handed – it's likely to be two darts thrown at the board this time.
They finished first and second in a Galway novice hurdle last week, Jackfinbar winning on his debut over timber at the age of nine, German recruit Hipop De Loire second on her first start for the Closutton team, a length-and-a-half adrift.
The Ebor betting market prefers Belloccio for the camp Mullins but he’s unlikely to head to North Yorkshire unless the weather gods throw conditions William Derby’s way that would leave any clerk of the course running for cover and cursing their luck in mid-August.
Belloccio wins at Royal Ascot
“He won the Cooper Horse at Royal Ascot but was quite sore on that fastish ground there so the chances are he won’t go to York unless there’s a lot of rain the week before,” the trainer confirmed on Wednesday lunchtime.
At the time he was stroking the nose of Hipop De Loire as the horse had a Sporting Life camera pointed at him for the first time.
No stage fright here – nor at Galway.
“This horse must have a good chance,” Mullins mused. “He ran a cracker at Galway and off 103 I’m looking forward to seeing him run.”
So what of the preparation – running over timber three weeks before the big York prize?
“It’s unusual,” Mullins smiled, “But Absurde did it last year and it worked for him! I wanted to run them over hurdles rather than the flat. Both are older horses, this fellow came from Europe where he had a nice record, winning a Listed race over a mile-and-six.
“I’m happy that he’ll handle the conditions at York.”
Jackfinbar makes a winning hurdling debut
Jackfinbar is more of a known quantity but you have to go a long way back for his Group Three win for Harry Dunlop in the autumn of 2018.
He was off the track from the spring of 2019 until his first run for new connections at Roscommon in July of last year.
But since then Mullins has had a clearer run. Jackfinbar was 12th behind Absurde in last year’s Ebor when sent off at 8/1. He’s a bigger price for the 2024 renewal at the moment but heads there off the back of a win – albeit over hurdles.
“He had an injury before we got him, then got one after we got him. He hasn’t had many runs for us but his work is good and I was pleased with him at Galway," Mullins said.
“He and the other horse came well away from the field and it was good performance. The two of them were a little keen but that is something that can happen with horses switching from the Flat and I hope it might settle both of them down.
“They might come out at York and be looking for a hurdle mind but the are two nice individuals heading over there.”
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It’s a deep renewal of the Sky Bet Ebor, but so was the 2023 running won by Absurde. So what are the trainer’s memories of the day?
“Frankie jumping off and saying go for the County Hurdle! No, that’s not quite right,” Mullins beamed.
“I remember him being flat out for the last three furlongs and still don’t quite know how he got him back up. Then there was the fact he had to jog three furlongs down to the start having dismounted Absurde to lead him there. I thought, wow Frankie must be hungry if he’s doing that. What a ride it was, a ride of the ages.
“From there Absurde ran a cracker in Melbourne and will go back there again this year, maybe using different tactics.
“We might give him a run in the Caulfield Cup before that too, I think that race might suit him a little better.”
The 2023 Sky Bet Ebor winner is heading for Australia in the autumn and could be joined on the plane from County Carlow by the 2024 hero if either Jackfinbar or Hippo De Loire win.
There’s a guaranteed berth up for grabs on the Knavesmire – along with a hugely prestigious and valuable prize in its own right.
Willie has won it twice and you just sense he hasn’t finished with the Sky Bet Ebor just yet.
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