It was another remarkable season for our star columnist and he reflects on it in his final column of the campaign.
It’s time to reflect on another season which started well for us in the summer at Galway with Royal Rendezvous and Saldier winning the Plate and Hurdle respectively.
Statuaire went to Fairyhouse to win the Grade One Royal Bond but a dry autumn meant we were later getting our winter team out than is sometimes the case.
Allaho won the John Durkan in what turned out to be one of the races of the season. We know what the winner went on to do, Fakir D’Oudairies won a couple of Grade Ones after finishing fourth and fifth home Tornado Flyer went on to land the King George at Kempton.
It was a really good race at the start of the season, and it was the launchpad for our own campaign as we could get our big National Hunt chasers out.
We had a really good Christmas across Limerick and Leopardstown and of course Tornado Flyer at Kempton.
From there we rolled onto a very successful Dublin Racing Festival. Blue Lord won, Vauban stamped himself as a Cheltenham prospect and Facile Vega was clearly exciting as he won the bumper.
Chacun Pour Soi landed another Grade One at the track for owner Rich Ricci. Sir Gerhard struck in the two mile novice hurdle albeit not as impressively as he had at Christmas while Minella Cocooner was another good winner for us.
And onto Cheltenham where Stattler was our first winner in the National Hunt Chase. It was great to get on the board on the opening day after a couple of seconds and thirds.
Wednesday was a special day.
Sir Gerhard got the job done in the Ballymore which was a great way to start.Then Chacun Poir Soi seemed to be having it all his own way up front in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase before making a mistake and losing his jockey. However, Energumene was there, travelling like a dream, to win us our first Champion Chase.
Facile Vega is the most exciting bumper horse we’ve had in years and he showed that at home. Even when conditions were awful and the course redesigned into a slalom ski event down the back at Cheltenham, he managed to find enough to come through all the kickback and mud to win.
He rolled onto Punchestown and capped off the season with another Grade One. He was the champion bumper horse and was chased home by Redemption Day who looks a very exciting prospect in his own right. I think Facile Vega might have been a little flat on the day though.
Galopin Des Champs was going to get us off the perfect start on Thursday at Cheltenham in the Turners only to fall at the last but he made amends for that at Fairyhouse next time.
For Paul to go out and ride Allaho like he did in the Ryanair – after what had happened in the previous race - showed the strength of character and nerve and that was a great performance again.
Vauban was very impressive in the Triumph Hurdle and was another to follow up at Punchestown and there’s no doubt he’s a leading contender for the top hurdling races next season. It’s not ideal taking on the established stars in your second season and five-year-old winners tend to come along very sparingly – Espoir D’Allen and Katchit being the only ones in recent times.
State Man’s fall over Christmas and subsequent win at Limerick left him on a very nice mark for the County Hurdle which he dully obliged in. Paul rode him very safely, keeping wide and out of trouble in the hope he had another ability to win which he did.
He came back to Punchestown and justified Paul’s confidence in hm by winning the Grade One novice hurdle over two-and-a-half-miles which also puts him in line to challenge for top hurdling honours next season.
Sean O’Keeffe gave The Nice Guy a terrific ride to win the Albert Bartlett, following Minella Cocooner for much of the race and keeping out of trouble. It was a very smooth performance and the horse followed that up in the Grade One over three miles at Punchestown. I’d hope that leaves him as a top novice chase prospect for next year.
He’s a horse who shows a lot more on the racecourse than he does at home. He was probably the surprise of the year for us. When we were working him in October if someone had told us he would win five races including two Grade Ones we’d have had you taken away by the men in the white coats. He’s definitely the most improved horse in our yard.
I thought the best ride of Cheltenham was Patrick’s in the St. James's Place Festival Challenge Cup aboard Billaway. It helped he had a very willing partner and he galvanised him for one final effort as they got up right on the line. It was an extraordinary race.
We were delighted to win the race for the first time. It’s a race with a magnificent trophy and I promised owner John Turner we’d win it some day with Billaway. It took us three years to do it and even then, it was a last-gasp strike but he was a very happy man to take it home. It probably took the same amount of money to fill it with the celebratory drink as it did to buy the horse it’s that big mind.
Elimay won the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase having been second to Colreevy last year. Mark Walsh gave her a terrific ride to win and it was a great result for JP McManus and his team.
Henry De Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore probably took the honours for the week by winning the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup but we were absolutely delighted to have five winners on the final day.
At Aintree our small team struck twice. Ashroe Diamond won the mares’ bumper. We bred her – as we did the jockey! It was lovely to see her winning a Grade Two.
Gentleman De Mee won the Grade One two mile novice, beating the Sporting Life Arkle winner Edwardstone. It was a great run to beat him and we probably caught the runner-up coming back from Cheltenham while we’d had a break but it was no less deserved for our fellow
It was a great day for the family with Emmet Mullins winning the Randox Grand National with his first ever runner in Noble Yeats. He was ridden by Sam Waley-Cohen who gave him probably the ride of the season. To watch from where he started, last on the outside over the first, to where he ended up was a masterpiece of riding for any jockey let alone an amateur having his final ever ride.
We went onto Fairyhouse where Gaillard Du Mesnil ran a cracker in the Irish Grand National. He did everything right, Paul had him in the right place throughout, and he just wasn’t good enough on the day under his big weight.
Brandy Love missed Cheltenham with a minor injury but gained great compensation with her Grade One win here even though going right-handed isn’t her best way. Paul managed to manufacture a ride that kept her straight and beat the mare who won at Cheltenham Love Envoi. It was a great win for owner Mike Grech.
Galopin Des Champs was very impressive and I wasn’t sure whether coming back to Fairyhouse from Cheltenham was the right thing to do but it was a two-and-a-half mile Grade One race which was the right one for him. He gave a fantastic performance to win there, he’s learning all the time and we mustn’t forget he hasn’t got many races under his belt.
A big lesson was learned at Cheltenham and he put that to good use when he met the last wrong at Fairyhouse. The John Durkan is a race I often like to start my good staying chasers in and we might look at that for him but we’ll see how he comes out of the summer.
We also had a nice horse who won his third bumper in Hunters Yarn. We made a bit of a mistake starting him out too early in the season over a trip that was too far at Punchestown where he was beaten into fourth. He got a bit of a knock and was put back and by the time we had him right again we decided to stick to bumpers and keep him for novice hurdles for next season because he was showing us so much at home. He won at Limerick and Fairyhouse afterwards and is a really good prospect looking at the two-mile novice hurdle division.
We had the first three home in the Tattersalls Ireland George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper and were delighted with Icare Desbois who Jody Townend rode. She was crowned champion lady rider again and rode fantastically well all season. It was a tremendous achievement for her.
Melon won down in Cork and did it very well. He’s been placed in Grade Ones all his carer and we’ve decided to drop him down in grade to extend his career and he seems to have found his niche there. It’s great to see him winning again.
Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi met again at Punchestown and in what turned out to be a thrilling race, the Cheltenham winner prevailed again. Between the final two fences it looked as though Chacun might be getting on top but the winner pulled out all the stops. Even though Chacun was on a track where he runs well, age is probably just catching up on him
Capodanno won the Grade One three-mile novice chase and the change of tactics was a big help for him. He’s a long striding horse who jumps well and he loved being let loose at the front end and galloped his rivals into submission. He certainly goes into my Gold Cup team and at his age there must be huge improvement still to come in the big staying chases.
Allaho put up a fantastic performance in the Punchestown Gold Cup despite probably not being favoured by going right-handed. He stayed out the trip well but the extra two furlongs of a Cheltenham Gold Cup could be a huge ask. When I look at how well he handles the track for the Ryanair it’s a big decision that will have to be made at some stage of next season as to where he’ll go but that’s for another day.
Klassical Dream won his second stayers' hurdle at the meeting which was very satisfying while Blue Lord ended his season with a Grade One win having looked in trouble at the last. Paul hadn’t asked him for everything though and conjured another effort from him to finish a tremendous season for the horse – and Simon Munir and Isaac Souede – in style.
We were delighted with how our horses performed all season and indeed some of them had their best runs on their final starts. We’ve a great team of owners, staff and jockeys, who all won their respective championships. Jack Foley joined us halfway through the campaign and it was great to see him crowned champion conditional.
It’s been a very trying time for owners and racing fans who weren’t able to go to the track but as Covid restrictions started to ease it was great to see racegoers and owners back. It’s only when you saw everyone at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown and how much atmosphere returned with them, it underlined who much more enjoyable racing is when all the participants are allowed in.
