Cheltenham proves that not even Willie Mullins gets it right every time
Not even Willie Mullins gets it right every time. Shocking but true.
For about three hours here on Friday afternoon it looked as if the Closutton magician was the man who could do no wrong.
Then his luck turned at the worst possible moment and he was left wondering why.
Mullins already had six winners at the Cheltenham Festival as the last dayâs racing started. Four more were added â to equal his own record of ten for one week â in the first four races. And this was before he saddled Galopin Des Champs for the Gold Cup.
Galopin wasnât just the hot favourite in the sportâs biggest race of the year.
The nine-year old was the peopleâs favourite. A crowd of close to 68,000 knew, whatever the names on their betting slips, that this might be a day to treasure forever.
All sorts of history was on the line.
Win and Galopin would join an elite cadre of four horses to have won the most illustrious prize in National Hunt racing for a third time.
He would have crossed the line a legend, to be mentioned in the same breath as Golden Miller, Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate.
Win and Paul Townend would be the first jockey to have claimed the race five times.
Win and Mullins⌠well, win and Mullins would have simply pushed the boundaries of jumps racing beyond anything weâd even known. Again.
It wasnât to be, Gavin Cromwellâs Inowhaturthinkin pulling away from him up the hill to the finish.
Cromwell was already having his best season as a trainer before his arrival in the Cotswolds.
A coming man in the sport, this cements his arrival and he was happy to put into context the extent of the journey that has taken him so far.
âI was a farrier for 20-plus years and the latter few years of it I was part-time trainer and full-time farrier,â the Co Meath operator explained.
âThen as I got busier the roles reversed, and eventually I had to give up the farrier job.
âItâs well-publicised I was Gordon Elliottâs farrier and I shod Don Cossack [who won the Gold Cup nine years ago].
This was a second Gold Cup win for owner JP McManus who first got his hands on the prize in 2012 when Synchronised came through, and it caps a week that delivered five other successes to bring his overall number to a record 84.
âYou have to enjoy these moments because they are so long in the making.â
If the likes of Mullins and McManus dominated again then there were unlikely stories in there too. A fresh-faced amateur jockey from Wexford by the name of Barry Stone winning on Thursday, on his first ride in Britain, was up there with the best.
The Irish have made a habit of making this look easy.
A clean sweep of the Friday card left them with 20 winners for the week compared to eight from the hosts. There are all sorts of reason for this imbalance but any suggestion that it is easy wouldnât sit well with Elliott.
Only four trainers have saddled more festival winners than the Meath man but he went through 27 of the 28 races this time around without adding his 41st. He had four seconds and five thirds before Wodhooh broke his duck in the last.
A grand total of 54 horses sent out, one winner. It is anything but easy.
