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Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cleary-Farrell on the double as Mullins dominates action
Punchestown report Willie Mullins dominated the weekend action in Punchestown, registering doubles on both Saturday and Sunday, with 7lb claimer Sean Cleary-Farrell delivering on the double yesterday for Closutton, on board Spanish Harlem and Keep Up. Without a win in his fourteen 14 previous starts for Mullins but fourth in the valuable Bet365 Gold Cup last time, Spanish Harlem broke through in the Jim Ryan Memorial Novice Chase, staying on dourly on the run-in to get the better of No Time To Wait and justify 8/15 favouritism. 'The track and trip suited him and he used his jumping experience,' said David Casey, representing Mullins. 'Sean gave him a good ride and he kept galloping. Nicer ground and extended trip suit him and I'd say we'll keep going with him.' Sean Cleary-Farrell completed his first double and provided the second leg of the Mullins treble on hurdling debutante Keep Up, a facile winner of the Lily & Wild Mares Maiden Hurdle, the 4/5 shot beating market rival Fillusin by five lengths. 'Sean gave her a good ride — she was a bit in his hands, fresh after her break, but she jumped well and stayed galloping,' said Casey. 'I hope she'll go on to win her 'novice' now — she could be one for Galway.' Joli Travail and Anna McGuinness win for trainer Willie Mullins. Picture: Healy Racing Anna McGuinness, another emerging 7lb claimer, rode her second winner in the famous colours of JP McManus and provided the final leg of the Closutton treble when Joli Travail (2/1) made virtually all, to take the John Dowling Memorial Maiden Hurdle at the expense of William Butler. 'He's had a couple of issues, but that was a good performance,' stated a delighted Casey. 'He learned a lot in Killarney and the longer trip definitely helped him. We'll try to find a 'novice' for him but, long-term, he looks like a chaser.' And he added, 'Anna is a good rider. She was recommended to use by James Lambe about a year ago and is with us full-time.' Brosna Queen, trained locally by Sonny Carey, proved best in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Pro-Am Flat Race, digging deep for Patrick Mullins to see off Atomic Queen and Kabylia. 'She's a good mare, with loads of ability,' said Carey. 'She'll have a break and might come back for the 'Mucklemeg' (listed event at Gowran Park) or a trip to Cheltenham in November.' The Noel Meade-trained Mick Collins (Eoin Walsh) rallied bravely on the run-in to confirm Bellewstown flat form with odds-on favourite Luker's Tipple in the Bermingham Cameras Maiden Hurdle. Tightest finish of the day came in the Madison Flooring Handicap Hurdle, when Gavin Cromwell's versatile grey Londonofficecallin (Kieren Buckley) pipped favourite Stay Gold by a nose before surviving a Stewards Enquiry. And the quirky, Ted Walsh-trained Hardwired, under a determined Gavin Brouder, proved his liking for Punchestown when foiling Antrim Coast by a half-length in the K-Mech Mechanical Handicap Chase., the nine-year-old third success at the County Kildare / poh
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Mullins passes Skelton to retain trainers' title
Willie Mullins claimed a treble on the final day of the British jump racing season at Sandown to get the better of rival Dan Skelton and retain his trainers' for Celtic Warrior (5-6 favourite) in the Oaksey Chase, Il Etait Temps (9-2) in the Celebration Chase and Jump Allen (5-1) in the Handicap Hurdle finale, plus the second, third, fourth and fifth-placed finishers in the Bet365 Gold Cup, ensured a day to remember for the 68-year-old Irishman. English trainer Skelton had led the way for much of the year-long season and was more than £1m ahead in the championship - which is based on prize money - before the Grand National on 5 Mullins, the first Irish trainer to win the British title for 70 years in 2024, saddled five of the first seven in the big Aintree race, including a one-two-three, to cut the deficit by £860, led by £68,483 going into the last day with £685,000 prize money on offer across the Mullins had the stronger hand with 21 runners compared to Skelton's nine and trained the first two in the Oaksey Chase with Appreciate It following stablemate Celtic Warrior home to close the money gap, before seizing the advantage when Il Etait Temps beat the Nicky Henderson-trained Jonbon to win the Celebration was a fifth Grade One success for the winner, who had been off the track for almost a year, but Danny Mullins, nephew of the trainer, put in a superb ride to take a deserved needed a big performance in the Gold Cup to have any chance of the title but it was newly crowned champion jockey Sean Bowen who triumphed on Resplendent Grey (9-2), trained by Olly Murphy, while Mullins horses filled the next four places to give him the was the perfect way for Welsh rider Bowen to complete his season, which also seen him pass 1,000 winners in February and make up for disappointment of the 2023-24 season he had been leading the standings before a fall on Boxing Day left him sidelined for two months, allowing rival Harry Cobden to overtake him and win his first this season Bowen finished with 180 wins with Cobden in second on 143, ending his campaign with a win on the Mullins-trained Jump Allen in the final race of the day also saw rising star Freddie Gingell crowned champion conditional jockey, while JP McManus won the champion owner title.
Irish Daily Mirror
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Punters flock to support Willie Mullins ahead of Trainers Championship showdown
Punters are flocking to Willie Mullins as he looks to earn the Champion Trainer title this weekend as he chases down Dan Skelton. It has been another memorable year for Mullins, seeing his son ride to Grand National victory and had yet another successful Cheltenham Festival. But Mullins must overcome a £57,477 deficit over Dan Skelton if he is to become the Champion Trainer for 2025 with it all coming down to Sandown this weekend. And Mullins has sent over a 21-strong fleet to England to capture the title with the trainers title. Mullins has 10 out of 20 horses running in the Bet 365 Gold Cup, including the top four favourites while Gaelic Warrior is favourite for the Oaksey Chase while punters are finding great value in a double with Kitzbuhel in the Select Hurdle at a price of 9/2. Such is the size of the fleet Mullins is sending, he has been installed as 1/7 to land the trainers title while Dan Skelton is 9/2 according to BoyleSports. Brian O'Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: 'There's an air of inevitability about the Trainers' Championship as Willie Mullins unleashes an army of runners at Sandown, and of his 21 strong team, it's Gaelic Warrior and Kitzbuhel that punters think will snatch the title off Skelton on the final day of the season.' Here are a look at all the runners for both Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton. Willie Mullins runners: 5/4 Gaelic Warrior (14:25 Sandown) 11/2 Gentlemen De Mee (14:25 Sandown) 20/1 Appreciate It (14:25 Sandown) 20/1 Classic Getaway (14:25 Sandown) 6/4 Kitzbuhel (15:00 Sandown) 11/2 Enurgemene (15:35 Sandown) 13/2 Il Etait Temps (15:35 Sandown) 4/1 High Class Hero (16:10 Sandown) 6/1 Minella Cocooner (16:10 Sandown) 6/1 Dancing City (16:10 Sandown) 13/2 Grangeclare West (16:10 Sandown) 16/1 Lombron (16:10 Sandown) 16/1 O'Moore Park (16:10 Sandown) 20/1 Spanish Harlem (16:10 Sandown) 22/1 Olympic Man (16:10 Sandown) 25/1 Klarc Kent (16:10 Sandown) 28/1 Chosen Witness (16:10 Sandown) 5/1 Jump Allen (16:45 Sandown) 13/2 Bunting (16:45 Sandown) 7/1 Dr Eggman (16:45 Sandown) 18/1 King Alexander (16:45 Sandown) Dan Skelton runners: 7/2 Riskintheground (13:50 Sandown) 18/1 Boombawn (14:25 Sandown) 13/2 Take No Chances (15:00 Sandown) 16/1 Gwennie May Boy (15:00 Sandown) 25/1 Unexpected Party (15:35 Sandown) 100/1 Harper's Brook (15:35 Sandown) 12/1 Hoe Joly Smoke (16:10 Sandown) 11/2 Mostly Sunny (16:45 Sandown) 8/1 Got Grey (16:45 Sandown)
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Skelton v Mullins: ‘bouncer' blocks path to title on final day of jumps season
Dan Skelton has been an immovable object at the top of the National Hunt trainers' table since the opening day of the 2024-25 season on 4 May last year but when he comes up against the irresistible force of Willie Mullins's stable at Sandown on Saturday, the betting market sees only one winner. Mullins is top-priced at 1-6 to retain the title he won for the first time last year, and while stranger things happen in racing on a fairly regular basis – a 1-9 shot was beaten in a two-horse race at Fakenham less than a month ago – even Skelton has seemed slightly resigned to his probable fate in the run-up to this weekend's decisive card. Advertisement Related: Grounds for concern with credibility urgently needed on racing data 'We have never been champion and have never been to that dance,' Skelton said. 'The excitement that we could still do it and the tenacity everyone has shown is something I have taken a lot of heart from. We are trying to get through the door and on the dancefloor, maybe the bouncer won't let us to the party on Saturday but we'll try.' Mullins is actually still around £67,000 adrift of Skelton's prize money total ahead of Saturday's card, which has a total prize fund of nearly £700,000, but he has 21 declared runners compared to Skelton's nine, and 10 of the 20 runners in the £175,000 Bet365 Gold Cup, the feature race of the afternoon, including the first four in the betting. The general sense of inevitability about a successful title defence, though, should not be allowed to diminish a full appreciation of the scale of Mullins's likely achievement this weekend. He has made such a regular habit of doing things that were previously seen as near-impossible that a second straight title success – after becoming the first Irish trainer for 70 years to win – could almost be seen as par for the course. Advertisement Since he has assembled the most powerful team of horses that jump racing has ever seen, the argument also runs that, as one columnist in the Racing Post suggested this week: 'The battle for supremacy in the training ranks in Britain is a phoney war until the spring and Mullins can pretty much win it whenever he wants.' But defending a title in any sport is rarely that simple, and rarely, if ever, achieved by standing still. Patrick Mullins, the trainer's son and assistant, talked after his success on Nick Rockett in the Grand National about his father's relentless ambition and desire to improve, at an age – 69 in September – when most of us would expect to be several years into retirement. And Skelton has forced Mullins to improve to remain in contention for this year's championship, having already a personal target of £3.3m for the season, which he felt would be enough to secure a first title after finishing more than £300,000 adrift of Mullins last year. In the end, though, and despite Skelton having saddled 1,000 runners over the course of the campaign, it all came down to one race: the Grand National three weeks ago, when Mullins saddled the first three home and five of the first seven. Even Mullins himself could scarcely believe that a six-strong team in a field of 34 runners would secure nearly 90% of the £1m prize fund, and Skelton certainly did not see it coming. Advertisement 'You can't legislate for Willie taking £860,000 out of the Grand National,' Skelton said this week. 'We were in the position that if he won it we would still be OK, and even if he had first and second, but we are now in this end of season struggle and massively odds on to get beat.' Even Mullins is not going to repeat his recent Aintree heroics every year, though, and Skelton's ever-improving stable will surely get its hands on the prize one day. For the moment, though, it remains Willie's world, and the scale of Mullins's achievement if the title remains in County Carlow should not be underestimated. Cocooner can put Mullins in pole position The market has taken the presence of Paul Townend aboard the lightly-raced High Class Hero as a clear sign that he is Mullins main hope in Saturday's feature at Sandown. The betting, though, often over-reacts in situations like these and Minella Cocooner (4.10), last year's winner off a 4lb lower mark, could be a better bet at around 7-1 after an encouraging run to finish seventh in the Grand National three weeks ago. Advertisement Danny Mullins, who was aboard last year, has notched dozens of big-race wins for the yard on supposed second-strings, and Minella Cocooner proved last year that he can hold his form on spring ground, having won this race just over three weeks after finishing third in the Irish Grand National. Sandown: 1.50 Riskintheground has chipped in £66,000 for Dan Skelton's title charge in the last fortnight and is clearly thriving, so a quick hat-trick – worth another £21,000 – is a distinct possibility. Leicester 2.0:5 Having been gelded over the winter, Completely Random improved to win last time out and can follow up here. Sandown 2.25: Last year's Arkle winner, Gaelic Warrior, was back to his best at Aintree last time and will be a warm favourite to pick up the £45,000 first prize. Advertisement Haydock 2.40: Myal is 2-2 over this course and distance and will appreciate the drop back to seven furlongs after a promising return over a mile. Sandown 3.00: Mullins relies on Kitzbuhel, in his first season with the yard and still on an upward curve, to regain the winning thread after a drop in trip. Sandown 1.20 John Barbour 1.50 Riskintheground 2.25 Gaelic Warrior 3.00 Kitzbuhel 3.35 Jonbon 4.10 Minella Cocooner (nap) 4.45 Ike Sport Haydock 1.30 Rahiebb 2.00 Distinction 2.40 Myal (nb) 3.15 Golspie 3.50 Bear Rock 4.25 Maelstrom 4.55 Starlit Spice 5.25 Carron Leicester 1.35 Coyy 2.05 Completely Random 2.35 Naval Command 3.10 Sceptic 3.45 Knights Gold 4.20 Justcallmepete 4.50 Raft Up Advertisement Ripon 4.00 Clear Force 4.35 Phyllis Burton 5.05 Mr Hampstead 5.35 Cabrera 6.05 Venture Capital 6.35 Garden Oasis 7.05 Ziggy's Ariel Doncaster 4.40 Embarked 5.15 Yehudi 5.50 Kinswoman 6.25 Dorney Lake 7.00 Mostar Dreams 7.30 Glendown Wolverhampton 5.45 Zu Run 6.15 Carrados 6.45 French Sand 7.15 Candy Warhol 7.45 Crest Of Light 8.15 Scylla 8.45 Riyadh Gem Sandown 3.35: Hard to see anything but a third straight win in this race for Nicky Henderson's classy and ultra-consistent Jonbon. Sandown 4.45: Last year's winner, Ike Sport, looks primed for a repeat off a 4lb higher mark.
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Skelton v Mullins: ‘bouncer' blocks path to title on final day of jumps season
Dan Skelton has been an immovable object at the top of the National Hunt trainers' table since the opening day of the 2024-25 season on 4 May last year but when he comes up against the irresistible force of Willie Mullins's stable at Sandown on Saturday, the betting market sees only one winner. Mullins is top-priced at 1-6 to retain the title he won for the first time last year, and while stranger things happen in racing on a fairly regular basis – a 1-9 shot was beaten in a two-horse race at Fakenham less than a month ago – even Skelton has seemed slightly resigned to his probable fate in the run-up to this weekend's decisive card. 'We have never been champion and have never been to that dance,' Skelton said. 'The excitement that we could still do it and the tenacity everyone has shown is something I have taken a lot of heart from. We are trying to get through the door and on the dancefloor, maybe the bouncer won't let us to the party on Saturday but we'll try.' Mullins is actually still around £67,000 adrift of Skelton's prize money total ahead of Saturday's card, which has a total prize fund of nearly £700,000, but he has 21 declared runners compared to Skelton's nine, and 10 of the 20 runners in the £175,000 Bet365 Gold Cup, the feature race of the afternoon, including the first four in the betting. The general sense of inevitability about a successful title defence, though, should not be allowed to diminish a full appreciation of the scale of Mullins's likely achievement this weekend. He has made such a regular habit of doing things that were previously seen as near-impossible that a second straight title success – after becoming the first Irish trainer for 70 years to win – could almost be seen as par for the course. Since he has assembled the most powerful team of horses that jump racing has ever seen, the argument also runs that, as one columnist in the Racing Post suggested this week: 'The battle for supremacy in the training ranks in Britain is a phoney war until the spring and Mullins can pretty much win it whenever he wants.' But defending a title in any sport is rarely that simple, and rarely, if ever, achieved by standing still. Patrick Mullins, the trainer's son and assistant, talked after his success on Nick Rockett in the Grand National about his father's relentless ambition and desire to improve, at an age – 69 in September – when most of us would expect to be several years into retirement. And Skelton has forced Mullins to improve to remain in contention for this year's championship, having already a personal target of £3.3m for the season, which he felt would be enough to secure a first title after finishing more than £300,000 adrift of Mullins last year. In the end, though, and despite Skelton having saddled 1,000 runners over the course of the campaign, it all came down to one race: the Grand National three weeks ago, when Mullins saddled the first three home and five of the first seven. Even Mullins himself could scarcely believe that a six-strong team in a field of 34 runners would secure nearly 90% of the £1m prize fund, and Skelton certainly did not see it coming. 'You can't legislate for Willie taking £860,000 out of the Grand National,' Skelton said this week. 'We were in the position that if he won it we would still be OK, and even if he had first and second, but we are now in this end of season struggle and massively odds on to get beat.' Even Mullins is not going to repeat his recent Aintree heroics every year, though, and Skelton's ever-improving stable will surely get its hands on the prize one day. For the moment, though, it remains Willie's world, and the scale of Mullins's achievement if the title remains in County Carlow should not be underestimated. The market has taken the presence of Paul Townend aboard the lightly-raced High Class Hero as a clear sign that he is Mullins main hope in Saturday's feature at Sandown. The betting, though, often over-reacts in situations like these and Minella Cocooner (4.10), last year's winner off a 4lb lower mark, could be a better bet at around 7-1 after an encouraging run to finish seventh in the Grand National three weeks ago. Danny Mullins, who was aboard last year, has notched dozens of big-race wins for the yard on supposed second-strings, and Minella Cocooner proved last year that he can hold his form on spring ground, having won this race just over three weeks after finishing third in the Irish Grand National. Sandown: 1.50 Riskintheground has chipped in £66,000 for Dan Skelton's title charge in the last fortnight and is clearly thriving, so a quick hat-trick – worth another £21,000 – is a distinct possibility. Leicester 2.0:5 Having been gelded over the winter, Completely Random improved to win last time out and can follow up here. Sandown 2.25: Last year's Arkle winner, Gaelic Warrior, was back to his best at Aintree last time and will be a warm favourite to pick up the £45,000 first prize. Haydock 2.40: Myal is 2-2 over this course and distance and will appreciate the drop back to seven furlongs after a promising return over a mile. Sandown 3.00: Mullins relies on Kitzbuhel, in his first season with the yard and still on an upward curve, to regain the winning thread after a drop in trip. Sandown 1.20 John Barbour 1.50 Riskintheground 2.25 Gaelic Warrior 3.00 Kitzbuhel 3.35 Jonbon 4.10 Minella Cocooner (nap) 4.45 Ike Sport Haydock 1.30 Rahiebb 2.00 Distinction 2.40 Myal (nb) 3.15 Golspie 3.50 Bear Rock 4.25 Maelstrom 4.55 Starlit Spice 5.25 Carron Leicester 1.35 Coyy 2.05 Completely Random 2.35 Naval Command 3.10 Sceptic 3.45 Knights Gold 4.20 Justcallmepete 4.50 Raft Up Ripon 4.00 Clear Force 4.35 Phyllis Burton 5.05 Mr Hampstead 5.35 Cabrera 6.05 Venture Capital 6.35 Garden Oasis 7.05 Ziggy's Ariel Doncaster 4.40 Embarked 5.15 Yehudi 5.50 Kinswoman 6.25 Dorney Lake 7.00 Mostar Dreams 7.30 Glendown Wolverhampton 5.45 Zu Run 6.15 Carrados 6.45 French Sand 7.15 Candy Warhol 7.45 Crest Of Light 8.15 Scylla 8.45 Riyadh Gem Sandown 3.35: Hard to see anything but a third straight win in this race for Nicky Henderson's classy and ultra-consistent Jonbon. Sandown 4.45: Last year's winner, Ike Sport, looks primed for a repeat off a 4lb higher mark. 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