JOHN Nallen could have been forgiven for thinking that the achievements had peaked for the graduates of his point-to-point academy last spring when his former charges Minella Indo and Minella Times claimed two of the biggest prizes within racing, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National, within a matter of weeks of each other.

Last Saturday’s Dublin Racing Festival however was a reminder that the Minella band of graduates are set to remain competing at the top table, with two of his point-to-pointers from last season, Minella Cocooner and Minella Crooner, fighting out the finish of the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy Solicitors Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown.

That Grade 1 contest was to a certain extent a re-run of the four-year-old maiden that took place at Turtulla in November 2020 which had seen Grand Jury defeating Minella Cocooner by five lengths, a race which has already produced five individual track winners including last month’s Lanzarote Hurdle winner Cobblers Dream.

Despite that initial defeat, the Clonmel hotelier left the Tipperary course last season convinced that Minella Cocooner would soon turn the tables on his conqueror.

Took our chance

“He went to Turtulla by default that day. We had another horse lined up for it but he went lame on the Tuesday morning when we were doing the entries. Minella Cocooner was three weeks off being ready but I said it was a good track and it’s been a lucky place for us. I knew though once we got into the field that Pat Doyle had a rocket, but we took our chance,” said Nallen.

“I came away from Turtulla convinced that Grand Jury would never finish in front of us again. He was ready for his game and we weren’t. Johnny (Barry) said we could run him again and win but we sold him and he has gone to a great place.”

For Minella Crooner his debut came on the day that point-to-pointing returned last spring at Cork racecourse following a Covid-enforced hiatus, as he made the perfect start to his career on a card which also saw the winning debut of Champion Bumper contender American Mike.

“Minella Crooner won on the Grand National day and it was savage racing that day, but nobody wanted him at the sales.

“When I went to Newmarket with him you would think I had the plague, nobody came near me. They were convinced that there must be something wrong with him because I wouldn’t have had to bring him all the way over to sell him otherwise.”

Unconsidered

Should either of the pair follow-up in the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle at next month’s festival, they will be sure to return at a significantly shorter starting price than Nallen’s last winner of the Grade 1 contest, with subsequent Gold Cup winner Minella Indo claiming that prize three years ago at the unconsidered price of 50/1.

The welcome return to form of Minella Indo last Saturday adds further ammunition to his team of former pointers that are Cheltenham bound for what would be a second spring in the spotlight.

He had been front and centre in the global attention that surrounded Rachael Blackmore’s historic Grand National success aboard Minella Times last April, with the story behind his naming of the horses being heard far and wide.

The names of his latest Grade 1 stars certainly caught plenty of attention last weekend for their similarity. Unsurprisingly, the tale behind the naming of the pair epitomizes the character of the man behind them.

“When we were closed down doing nothing during the first lockdown and one morning I was hearing about all the people dying in nursing homes and I thought it was just terrible,” he explains.

“I rang Louise Morrissey and asked her if she would sing a few songs in a nursing home and she said of course, so I rang a man that had sound gear and then rang Mark O’Connor and asked him if he had a truck to spare and they all agreed and said no problem.

“In 15 minutes I had the band, equipment and transport all sorted so I rang a nursing home and they thought I was high on drugs.

“But by one o’clock that day, the show was on the road and they gave six weeks going around the country and we called it ‘crooning for cocooners’. The two horses were named after it on the same day and the rest is history.”

With last season’s crop of point-to-pointers having already produced these Grade 1 performers, hopes are high for his 2022 four-year-olds, the first of which could take their first steps in competitive action tomorrow, with both Minella Miracle and Minella Diamond holding entries at Comea and Knockanard.

What stories might lay behind the names of his 15 four-year-olds that are set to appear this spring.