DANNY Mullins has endured the ups and downs of jockey life as much as anyone, from starting out as the bright young thing with a treble while a 7lb claimer on the Friday of Galway in 2008 to gaining and losing the job of retained rider to Barry Connell.

There have been great days and leaner times since, but he has become a very thoughtful rider, one unafraid to work outside groupthink, using creativity and experimentation to solve the problem of race-riding.

There were a number of examples of this over last weekend, starting with Vischio at Punchestown on Friday. Dick Donohue’s seven-year-old mare has lots of ability relative to her hurdle rating of 111, winning a listed race on the flat last November, but had looked less than keen on winning this summer, often being reluctant at the start.

In a move to counter this, Mullins deliberately went without irons at the start and coaxed her to race and, with that initial recalcitrance overcome, she ran out an easy seven-length winner.

Tricky sort

Mullins sweetened up another tricky sort, Home By The Lee, in the Lismullen Hurdle last Saturday, the horse travelling as well as he has at any point in recent years, despite neither trip nor the steady pace seeming likely to suit on previous form.

Home By The Lee won with a bit in hand here and, while Bob Olinger will be better off at the weights if they meet over three miles at Christmas, that step up in distance will suit the Joseph O’Brien gelding more and, I would go as far as to say, he is a threat to all in the staying hurdling division in this type of form.

Mullins had no other winners over the weekend but produced some excellent rides in defeat. Green Sky looked a filly that could compete in maiden hurdles if only her hurdling was better, bad mistakes a feature of her previous runs, and Mullins got her jumping as well as ever at Navan on Sunday, keeping her forward and wide to produce a career best.

Yet best of all was his effort when second on Lucid Dreams in the Troytown. He has explored the outside route on the Navan chase track with Solness in Saturday’s Fortria Chase and that had nearly come off, the 12/1 shot just beaten by Found A Fifty, and the same approach almost worked on Sunday.

Inspired

Lucid Dreams looked a suspect stayer over the stiff three miles beforehand, but the rider’s decision to keep wide looked an inspired one, as he not only got on the better ground but also avoiding the fallers and traffic around the inner.

Ultimately, he was outstayed by Stuzzikini as an outside track position seemed to play a big part in the outcome; of the first five, four of them raced towards the outer throughout, the exception being the third Yeah Man.

He looks the horse to take from the race for other reasons too. He got hampered with the fall of Lisnamult Lad at the 12th and also travelled powerfully through the race, while he was also the only one of the first five that had not had a recent run.

American Mike was a disappointing favourite and, while he is probably not a horse to make excuses for as he is inconsistent and makes mistakes, he did have the excuse of racing on the inner part of the track throughout.

THIS is the time of the year to get excited about novices and, for the moment in Ireland, that means Gordon Elliott-trained runners; during the Navan Festival of Racing, Elliott won both graded novice hurdles, both beginners chases, a maiden hurdle and bumper.

The question is where these novices fit in the bigger picture, with Wille Mullins yet to bring out his winter types; Mullins went nearly a month without a maiden hurdle win before Spasiba won at Naas, while his last beginners chase win came on October 2nd.

For Elliott, Bleu De Vassy and The Yellow Clay seem to have pushed themselves to the top of his novice hurdlers, along with Romeo Coolio as Jalon D’Oudairies waits to overcome a pulled muscle. [Due out before Christmas].

Bleu De Vassy has been the surprise package after taking four goes to win his bumper last season, but he has been visually excellent in a pair of hurdles wins so far.

Connections seemed to think he was a stayer in bumpers, as three of his four runs came over 18 furlongs or further, but he looks a lot sharper over hurdles, having no issue with the steady pace and sprint finish in the For Auction.

Sounder surface

It is possible that his bumper form is clouded by all four of them coming on slow ground and a sounder surface suits more and that is something that is also at play with the Monksfield Novice Hurdle winner The Yellow Clay.

It was a little surprising that Elliott started him out over two miles and six at Down Royal, as he had not screamed stayer as a bumper horse, but the trainer has other options for shorter trips, while I also wonder if his jumping is sharp enough for the minimum distance.

In any case, he looked well-suited by a stamina test on Sunday, briefly coming off the bridle after an error two out, before quickly back travelling powerfully then finishing strongly.

Elliott mentioned the Lawlor’s of Naas as his next target, but the ground there would be a worry. The going for that race in past five years per Timeform has been good, good-yielding, heavy, soft and soft again and he would prefer it on the quicker side.

He produced a much better effort in the Punchestown Champion Bumper on nice ground than at Cheltenham on soft, allowing things didn’t go his way in March. Elliott did comment in a stable tour before his second season that he hated bad ground in a schooling race at Tipperary.

Get excited

Bleu De Vassy and The Yellow Clay are novices to get excited about, but the punter in me is at least as interested in a couple of the beaten horses behind them from the weekend.

Mr Percy could have pushed Bleu De Vassy harder in the For Auction, or at least finished further clear of the rest, as he was in a bad position in rear off a steady pace turning in, before making a mistake while running up the back of rivals two out.

He did well to finish off strongly from that disadvantageous spot, still pulling nine lengths clear of the third, his jumping generally better than last time.

Andy Slattery said that Fleur In The Park wanted two and a half to three miles after his maiden hurdle win at Wexford over two miles but the evidence of his Monksfield third place suggests the minimum distance is his thing.

He travelled as well as anything down the hill, his hurdling sharp too, before not getting home and he looks the type that could thrive in a well-run handicap hurdle over two miles.