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Willie Mullins' novice hurdlers for the 2023-24 season including Ballyburn and Mirazur West
Part two of the stable tour and our star columnist takes you through his exciting team of novice hurdlers for the 2023-24 jumps season.
Ballyburn looks a top-notcher. Rather than going for the Champion Bumper we went for the winners' bumper at Punchestown. He came with a nice reputation and, while he looks a chaser in the making, he could be one of our top-notch novice hurdlers, possibly in the staying division - a Ballymore type. He has been keen in bumpers but I'd imagine jumping will steady him up a bit and maybe we'll ride him with more restraint when he gets into bigger novice hurdles, but in his maiden hurdle if he jumps well he might take his chance from the front, but that'll be Paul Townend's problem.
He looks more a chasing type to me than a novice hurdler but he's a nice type and will go novice hurdling. He was runner-up in the Grade 2 bumper at Aintree on his final start last season.
He'll probably be one for the staying division over hurdles. He jumps well, does everything right at home.
Fun Fun Fun is back and very strong. We'll start off in a maiden hurdle and let her tell us which direction she will go. Looking at her pedigree you'd say she'd be going the two-and-a-half-mile route.
He got upset at Cheltenham before the start of the Champion Bumper but I'm hoping jumping will settle him down.
He won at Tipperary in May so is still a novice. He's a sharp novice and will start off in the Fishery Lane at Naas.
She looks to be a really nice prospect, winning two from two and winning them well. Unfortunately she met with a setback during the summer at grass.
Mirazur West is a horse I'm really looking forward to. He's a full brother to Ferny Hollow and certainly impresses on the gallop - I think he's one you could follow for the season. Even though he hasn't started working yet he catches your eye when he's out on the gallop. His brother Ferny Hollow is making very slow progress but is making progress. If he comes back it will be towards the end of the season and we're not going to rush a horse of his ability, we'll let him take all the time he needs. It's not ideal when you miss two seasons, but he has such ability we're going to give him every chance.
He'll go down the novice hurdle route. He's by Zarak and should be sharp enough. He was placed at Auteuil and could be a quality maiden type.
He improved hugely from his bumper to his novice hurdle, and we were very impressed with him at Galway, however that took a lot out of him and he's on a break at the moment. If he could improve a little bit more he'll run in the top novice races and with his pedigree he'll want two and a half miles. He's one to look forward to. We were a bit disappointed at Ballinrobe in his bumper as even though he won he made it very workmanlike, but he looked to have a bit of class in Galway and maybe jumping brings out more of his mother Annie Power's ability.
A big, chasing type who could possibly go for the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle as he's only a novice until December after winning twice in France. He's got a good rating coming out of France.
Predators Gold has come back well and is good and strong. I'm very happy with him. He jumps well and as a Land Rover Bumper winner you're probably looking at a horse with plenty of stamina. I reckon he'll probably be one of the staying types this term. He's a nice, big chasing type by Masked Marvel who imparts plenty of stamina in his stock.
Redemption Day was very impressive coming second to Facile Vega at Punchestown the season before last. He had problems last season but is well on course to come back over jumps this season and he's a horse who showed quite a lot of speed in his bumpers so he could be one for the minimum trip and maybe a Supreme horse.
Tullyhill is another really nice bumper from last season and would look an out-and-out stamina prospect over hurdles. Once again, he has chaser written across his forehead, but I'd imagine he'll be a Ballymore or Albert Bartlett type.
Luke McMahon has been a long-established client in the yard and he looks to have a nice one here in You Oughta Know who won twice in bumpers. I gave him a break to give him a chance to be a good horse and he'll go novice hurdling when he comes back. Being by Beat Hollow he might want nice ground so will probably be kept to better tracks but he looks a really nice prospect in the making.
Bumpers and juvenile hurdlers
She'll stick to the bumper route and her next run will possibly be at the Dublin Racing Festival in the Grade 2 mares' bumper Fun Fun Fun won last season. We'll give her every chance to be a top-class mare. She's not a mare I see going over fences, so we'll stick to bumpers this season and have a good novice hurdling campaign next season, all being well. I'm very pleased with how much she's progressing and that seems to be a feature of the Quevega pedigree, that they improve with age.
Batman Girac won in France so immediately you'd be thinking he could be a Triumph Hurdle contender. He'll have to take on winners and he will probably come out later in the season but he's doing things nicely at home here.
He's a lovely hurdling type. We'll start off around Christmas time over hurdles. He jumps well.
C'est Ta Chance
He's a lovely horse by Elm Park. He won a point-to-point for Pat Doyle and he could have a sharp enough pedigree for bumpers.
He's a previous winner over hurdles in France. We'll have to start him off in winners' races and go down the novice route. He sounds like a Ballymore horse having won at Compiegne.
He's a Triumph Hurdle possible. He should be coming out mid-season.
He's a nice horse by Tirwanako. He won his point to point well and we'll see him out in a bumper around Christmas time.
He's smart. A real chasing type but he will go down the juvenile hurdle route as he's already won in Auteuil. He's a fine stamp of a chasing type.
This is a nice prospect. I gave him a break and he's in pre-training with a view to coming out around Christmas time. He has every prospect of being a Triumph Hurdle horse. I'm looking forward to training him.
She's a big, strong mare who might shape better over fences but she will be going down the juvenile hurdle route. She's won twice already so is fairly smart.
She's a lovely big mare. She'll go down the juvenile route but could be a chasing type.
A very nice horse we bought at Newmarket. He looked very impressive when winning at Limerick and is owned by the H O S Syndicate who have Absurde out in Melbourne at the moment. I think he's a really nice dual-purpose type, and a backward type, so to do what he did at Limerick impressed us. I think he'll improve a lot but he is backward. We'll start him off in juvenile hurdles but he should improve with age.
Read more of the Willie Mullins Stable Tour
Part one: The novice chasers
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