IF you thought Allaho was commanding in his rout of a high-class field in the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup on Wednesday, then how would you describe his trainer Willie Mullins’ performance in landing his 16th trainers’ championship this year?
Awesome hardly does it justice.
His strike-rate is an unmatched 27% at the close of racing on Thursday, and all of my comments now are made in advance of the final two days of this year’s Punchestown Festival meeting, when the curtain comes down on the season. The firepower in his Closutton yard is staggering, and when he talks about Capodanno as a potential Gold Cup horse, trainers in Ireland and Britain must wonder what can be done to stem his dominance.
With over €5 million in prize money won in Ireland alone during the current National Hunt season, and a further £1.7 million earned in Britain where two-thirds of his 15 wins were gained at the Cheltenham Festival, Willie is still streets ahead of Gordon Elliott who has amassed some €3.6 million at home and more than £1 million across the water in the same period.
As good as Gordon, Henry de Bromhead, Joseph O’Brien, Gavin Cromwell and Noel Meade have performed, you will no doubt hear them all sing the praises of Willie Mullins. What he has done this season is about as good as it gets.
This week Gordon Elliott won the first three races at the five-day meeting, with Sir Gerhard vanquished in the first Grade 1 of the meeting. The mutterings were not long in starting, but they were soon silenced when Energumene and Chacun Pour Soi finished 1-2 in the William Hill Champion Chase.
This was the start of a sequence of seven straight victories in Grade 1 races, thanks to Capodanno, The Nice Guy, Allaho, Facile Vega, Klassical Dream and Blue Lord. That’s without yesterday and today accounted for!
As I write this, the top-10 trainers’ list includes two names that are well worth calling out. John Ryan is one short of 40 winners for the season, and he has achieved his prominent position by sheer dint of effort, Waitnsee being his sole blacktype winner. If you placed €1 on every one of his 367 starters you would be in profit. He is the only trainer in the top-20 that you could say this about.
Dermot McLoughlin owes his position largely to his BoyleSports Irish Grand National win, but this was a notable feat he achieved for a second time.
Overall, we can be immensely proud of the strength in depth of our training ranks.
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