Thursday was a miserable day at the races for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, for the most part as a result of the loss of Nichols Canyon in the Christmas Hurdle but also because Yorkhill’s run in the Christmas Chase – he was the last of eight finishers – strongly suggested that he will not be the horse to give Mullins a long overdue first success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Djakadam, who has finished second in two of the past three Gold Cups, also has questions to answer after being pulled up in the same race, while Bacardys, the odds-on favourite for the concluding novice chase, was also a faller.
All in all, an afternoon to forget for Ireland’s champion trainer, and he will take nothing for granted ahead of the final day at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting on Friday, when Faugheen, the 2015 Champion Hurdle winner, will set off at prohibitive odds in the Grade One Ryanair Hurdle.
Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, saw four races in a row won by horses in the colours of his Gigginstown House Stud here on Thursday, including two Grade One races and a 1-2-3 in the Christmas Chase. He has only a 100-1 chance in the race his company sponsors, however, and seems sure to be handing the prize to Mullins, who was one of O’Leary’s trainers until the pair had a very public falling-out just over a year ago.
Mullins has far too much experience of the disappointments of jump racing to worry unduly about a run of bad results around Christmas. That said, with Douvan still absent from the track this season as Mullins is not satisfied that he is ready to do himself justice, Faugheen has taken on the mantle of all-conquering stable standard-bearer. A routine, no-nonsense win is what is required today, ahead of an attempt to become the first horse in history to reclaim the championship over timber after a two-year gap.
Mullins has two runners in the other Grade One on the card, the Neville Hotels Novice Chase over three miles, where Henry de Bromhead’s Monalee, who finished second in the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle at the last Cheltenham Festival, will start favourite at around 4-5.
Monalee was a six-length winner of his only previous start over fences, in a beginners’ chase at Punchestown, a performance that sent him straight to the top of the betting for the RSA Chase in March, while Rathvinden, the prime contender from the Mullins stable, was a good second to Death Duty in the Grade One Drinmore Novice Chase last time out. It looks like a classic match-up between obvious potential and proven Grade One form, and on this occasion Rathvinden’s experience might just give him the edge at around 6-1.
There will be no jumping action in Britain on Friday after Doncaster’s card failed to pass a second inspection at 9am, due to “frozen parts of ground and a deteriorating forecast”. There is Flat racing on the Fibresand at Southwell, where Mr Carbonator (12.15) should go well in the opening nursery and Scotch Myst (3.00), whose only career success came at this track almost exactly a year ago, will appreciate the return to this surface.
Friday tips
Southwell 12.15 Mr Carbonator 12.45 Takeonefortheteam 1.15 The Great Wall 1.50 Serenity Now 2.25 Red Stripes 3.00 Scotch Myst (nb) 3.30 Go On Gal
