Fact To File's seamless Ryanair domination fires up Gold Cup debate again
WAY OUT IN FRONT: Fact To File and Mark Walsh win the Ryanair Chase (Grade 1). Pic:Healy Racing Photo
Willie Mullins is ready to re-ignite the Gold Cup conversation after Fact To File, an apparently more mature version, turned up on Wednesday at Cheltenham and blitzed his rivals in the Grade One Ryanair Chase.
Winner of the Brown Advisory at this meeting 12 months ago, his trainer felt he could be a Gold Cup horse this term, but he found stablemate Galopin Des Champs too formidable a foe on his two most recent outings and his sights were lowered just a touch.
Better for those experiences and ridden with ultra confidence by Mark Walsh, the JP McManus-owned seven-year-old posted a performance of real quality. Jumping well and, with Walsh keeping an eye on Il Est Francais every step of the way, he travelled stylishly and looked like the winner from a long way out.
Walsh sent his mount, the 6-4 favourite, to the front three from home and effectively allowed him to ease clear down to the second-last, and from there it was just cruise control all the way to the line. Heart Wood gave further evidence of the rude health of the de Bromhead runners by running the race of his life to take second place, with stablemate and three-time Festival winner and former winner of this race Envoi Allen in third.
“That was brilliant,” said the winning rider. “That sort of distance suits him, as you can let him gallop on and let him use his jumping. He never missed a beat today. He winged everything and he’s just happier going on that stride.
“We were seeing if he could make a Gold Cup horse, we ran into Galopin Des Champs twice, we tried two different things and it didn’t work, so there’s no point trying it a third time.
“Today, I was struggling to pull him up! Even coming up by the junction of the track here, he heard all the crowd on my left shouting, and he started pricking his ears and ducking away from them, so there’s loads left.”
The winning trainer, not surprised by the result but taken by the authority of victory, is hoping another year on his back will help the eight-year-old develop into a Gold Cup contender.
“The manner of the way in which he won was a bit of a surprise, but I felt coming here he’d win it,” Mullins admitted. “But the others were good horses, anyone would love to have them.
“I do agree that he might have been the horse to give Galopin Des Champs a battle in the Gold Cup - and he was in it - but we felt it was better to bide our time. He’ll probably be a Gold Cup horse next year.
“He’ll be a year older, and we felt that at this stage a hard race in the Gold Cup, if the ground turned up soft… It’s not like that, but that was the way I was thinking all season.
“JP didn’t want him to have a very hard race in the Gold Cup this year - sometimes that can ruin a horse’s career. I’m not going to say any more about two-year plans after Lossiemouth, but another year might be right. I think that’s what we’re looking at.
“Probably some people, after the Irish Gold Cup, might not have thought that he fully stayed it, but maybe it was a year too soon.”
