Paul Townend admits that he got his tactics wrong aboard Facile Vega at the Dublin Racing Festival last Sunday.
The 33-year-old concedes that he went too hard too early as Facile Vega slumped to a fifth placed finish in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown last Sunday.
Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes, Townend said: " With Facile Vega, we got the tactics wrong, going too hard too early and he was beaten a long way from home."
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Despite being hot favourite at 1/2, the Willie Mullins trained horse finished a lowly fifth, well behind eventual winner Il Etait Temps.
After the race, Mullins spoke about how Townend will need to ride Facile Vega like a 'racehorse' and not like a 'machine.'
"They were just going too fast, everyone could see they were going too fast. Paul (Townend) will have to ride him like a racehorse in the future, today he rode him like a machine," Mullins said.
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