Willie Mullins landed a 305/1 accumulator as he enjoyed a St Stephen's Day to remember on the racetrack.
Highlighted by Tornado Flyer's 28/1 victory in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton, Mullins had winners at three different venues.
It started off with a facile victory for the 2021 Champion Bumper winner Sir Gerhard, who recorded a seamless first win over hurdles at Leopardstown at the odds of 2/9.
Henn See (11/8), having his first run in Ireland, then ran out a gutsy winner of a maiden hurdle at Limerick for the Closutton outfit.
In the first Grade 1 of the Leopardstown Festival, Ferny Hollow conceded a heap of weight to Gordon Elliott's Riviere D'etel to cement his position at the head of the betting for the Arkle Chase.
I thought that was a huge performance to give that weight to a filly that no one has got near all season,” said Mullins, whose charge remains the only horse to have beaten Bob Olinger.
“He had come back from an 11-month break last time, but had only three weeks this time – I was worried all week that I was asking too much coming back so soon.
“Everything was against him, but he still pulled it out of the bag. I thought it was an awesome performance.
“He loves jumping. I really did think it was an awesome performance on his behalf. We could have waited another few weeks and gone to Punchestown and as we got nearer the race I wondered if I was doing the right thing. But he showed what he is today.”
He added: “We are very happy with him over the fences, he was never staying over hurdles.
“We’ll probably come back here for the Dublin Racing Festival and then the spring festivals.”
But the best was to come for Mullins as Tornado Flyer was a surprise winner of the feature race at Kempton - a result that even shocked Mullins himself, who would have trained the first two home if not for a last fence fall from Asterion Forlonge.
“I was totally surprised. I thought he might run a good race, but I couldn’t see him in the first four. Danny gave him a very cute ride and he was awesome on him.
“John Turner has a share in him and he said to bring him over. He couldn’t even go into the racecourse and had to watch from the last furlong in the car park because he had his elderly parents and was afraid to bring them into the crowd with covid. It’s a fantastic day for him.”
“Every season he promises to run a race like that, but every season he tapers off. This year we changed the way we do things with him at home and it’s obviously working.”
He added: “There has to be a big race in Asterion Forlonge when he puts it all together. It looked like he was going to be second and maybe we just need him to mature another bit to get everything right.”
The day was then rounded up by a promising bumper horse called Facile Vega. A son of the great racemare Quevega, the 10/11 shot looked a smart prospect in winning the last by six lengths.
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