Willie Mullins column: Sunday runners

Thurles Sunday

13:05 Hauturiere

I’m happy enough over this trip to have confidence in our mare. She was very good at Limerick over Christmas but does have the five pounds penalty carry for winning there.

13:35 Allaho

He ran well in the King George at Kempton and likes this track. The ground will be fine for him and I’m happy enough for him to take his chance in this. Hopefully it will be a good prep for him ahead of Cheltenham.

13:35 Appreciate It

He ran behind Galopin Des Champs in the Savills Chase last time where it looked as though he didn’t stay. Coming back to two-and-a-half should see him improve. He has his chance.

13:35 Capodanno

He ran a great race to finish third in the Savills but I’m just worried this trip could be a little short for him. But it’s a nice opportunity to get him out.

13:35 Stattler

Again, it’s a nice opportunity to get him racing but you’d think two-and-a-half will be a little on the tight side for him. It would be good to see him run well though.

14:45 High Class Hero

I gave him a little easy time after his busy summer and autumn. Rather than pitching him in against the top stayers at Leopardstown I felt this might be a good prep for him for Cheltenham and will give him more time to recover. He comes here in good form.

14:45 What Path

If the forecast rain arrives at Thurles before Sunday that wouldn’t help this fellow – the drier the better for him. He has his chance and is ready for a run, but I do worry the ground might not be to his liking.

Recent winners

Mystical Power was very impressive in the Sky Bet Moscow Flyer at Punchestown last weekend.

A feature of his career is that he seems to improve on the racetrack from what we see at home. We were pleasantly surprised to see the performance he put in to beat a good field comprehensively. It puts him right up there with the best novice hurdlers around at the moment.

I’m not too worried about another run before Cheltenham for him. I think that was as good a trial as I needed to see so I’m probably happy to go there without another outing.

Maughreen is out of a half-sister to Faugheen and arrived at Punchestown on Monday with a lot of confidence behind her and duly obliged. She’s still quite unfurnished and is a filly who will improve but she’s done enough now to go to any racetrack that we want to. I’d imagine her next run would possibly be across the water.

Paul Townend was very happy with Hunters Yarn at Fairyhouse even though he made that mistake at the second last. He was very good, showed his ability and I’d imagine his jumping will improve. He looks a nice prospect for the future.

Winning the SBK Dan & Joan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase with Uncle Phil was very pleasing. He was a horse I wasn’t sure would handle the ground there, but it stayed dry enough for him and his jumping was fantastic. I think coming into the springtime he might be one we look to pick up nice prizes at Fairyhouse or Punchestown with, rather than head over to Cheltenham.

Miss Manzor and Karia Des Blaises both stepped up on their first runs for us at Leopardstown to finish first and second in the juvenile hurdle albeit in lesser company. Both ran well and I’ll probably step them back up into a better race after that.

Highwind was very impressive in Punchestown despite making a couple of bad mistakes, especially at the last, but was still able to pick up when he heard the opposition on his heels halfway up the straight. He won very impressively and is a horse with a big engine but needs more experience over hurdles. I thought if he hadn’t made the mistake at the last, he could have been as impressive as Storm Heart was.

With his flat speed, if he can get his jumping right, he could go right to the top. Looking at him in the parade ring you’d have thought he might need the race and that’s what we were thinking at home, but we needed to get him out and experience into him if he was to have any chance on the juvenile scene this season.

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