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Public Area => Sports and Gambling => Topic started by: john m on February 10, 2021, 11:07:18 pm

Title: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on February 10, 2021, 11:07:18 pm
Watching the Racing from Leopardstown over the Weekend Willie Mullins won all the big races .His stable Jockey Paul Townsend rode most of them but Listening to Mullins dont think he trusts Townsend .He is no Ruby Walsh or Tony Mc Coy but he gets the job done but I dont think Mullins thinks much of him .I wouldnt be surprised if Townsend loses that job after Cheltenham .
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: markmiwurdz on February 11, 2021, 10:43:44 am
Watching the Racing from Leopardstown over the Weekend Willie Mullins won all the big races .His stable Jockey Paul Townsend rode most of them but Listening to Mullins dont think he trusts Townsend .He is no Ruby Walsh or Tony Mc Coy but he gets the job done but I dont think Mullins thinks much of him .I wouldnt be surprised if Townsend loses that job after Cheltenham .

I doubt it John,he's been with Willy since he was about 14 and did his time waiting for Ruby to retire.

He made a howler at Punchestown a couple of years back but other than that I think he's been excellent (2 Cheltenham Gold Cups in a row).

I agree he's no Ruby but you won't ever see another.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on February 11, 2021, 11:41:35 am
If you watch Willies Interview after the two miler he sort of suggested Townsend didnt ride to orders holding the horse up till the last ,he hinted that he wasent to happy with the way he rode another winner .I would think Mullins is master of all he observes and if he says ride it this way then he means ride it this way .Young Patrick is very accomplished so is Danny and Blood is thicker than water .I just got the impression from Willies Interviews that he wasent best pleased .Listened to David Mullins being interviewed he said he was nearly afraid to tell willie he was quiting then he said who would quit a job as a B1 or B2 jockie in Willies .Got the impression everybody knows their role and place in Willies and if you step out of line your out .You wouldnt know whats going on behind the scenes Willy could have a few million euros worth of store horses he cant sell but he didnt sound like a happy Man considering he won all the big races and probable the meat raffle for the stable staff as well if they had one .
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on February 22, 2021, 11:01:53 pm
HAVE A READ OF THIS MARK .Mullins only mentions Townsend once as a work rider .No other mention for his stable Jockey ?

ON, 22 FEB, 2021 - 21:10
TOMMY LYONS
Willie Mullins has horses vying for or already clear favourite for half of the races at the upcoming Cheltenham Festival.

Reading that probably doesn’t do it justice. Sure, he hasn’t yet won a race at the 2021 Festival, and given the events of the past 12 months, it might the wrong year to tempt fate, but Mullins’ record with lesser teams tells us he is likely to turn this market dominance into winners on the four days between March 16 and 19.

The top trainers, horses and jockeys converge on the Cotswolds for the meeting, all hoping to be in the shape to give their very best, but Mullins has done so with such regularity in the past decade, we ought not be too surprised at his current position.

So, what does the Closutton maestro put it down to?

“To tell you the truth, I’m wondering myself,” admits Mullins.

I think recruitment must be the key. I’m always searching. At the moment I’m looking for horses that will be racing for me in a year or two years’ time. I think that’s instrumental in creating a base from where to work.
“Of course, you’ve got to have to have the people who put the money there so you can invest it in nice bloodstock, and we’re very lucky to have owners like that, that want to have nice horses.

“And that doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a thing that’s been building over years and years. It’s very hard for young trainers to come in and expect to compete because they’ve got to build up their clients as well, and the trust that the client has for the trainer – and likewise the trainer for his client.

“It’s a combination of everything really. When you look at the top end of our staff, they’re all with me the same length of time I’m here in Closutton. Ruby, David, Patrick, Jackie, and Dick Dowling, our head man. That’s a lot of experience between the whole yard, and maybe that’s coming to fruition now.”


As Mullins reminds us, it is only a couple of years since he wondered if he would ever win a Gold Cup, and yet in Al Boum Photo he now has a horse bidding to earn a place alongside Arkle and Best Mate as three-time winners of the race.

It also doesn’t seem so long since this horse was making headlines for the wrong reasons. Famously, he ran out at Punchestown, a race which came little more than a month after he fell at the second-last in the RSA and sidelined Ruby Walsh for a considerable period. The horse was well beaten before that incident in the RSA Chase and there was little from that to suggest he was the next big thing.

Perhaps it is that, or his since scant appearances on the track which have resulted in him failing to fire the imagination of punters, but perhaps that highlights Mullins’ expertise with the horse he describes as an ‘ordinary Joe’.

“He’s very unremarkable – that’s the thing about him,” admits Mullins. “He’s uncomplicated, he’s very nice to train.


“He’s in great shape. Worked well last week. He has a big bit of work coming up this week.

Little did I think when we were buying him – or, indeed, the day that he ran out at Punchestown - that we would be in this position. He’s got a funny back history, but here he is, a double Gold Cup winner going for a third Gold Cup. We’re very privileged to have him.
“We think he’s in a good place. Any time Paul has ridden him in work, he’s been happy with him. I’ve been happy with what I’ve been seeing as well. We don’t have any negatives at this point, we didn’t have any setbacks. I think he’s in great shape going to Cheltenham this season.”

The sole championship race at the Festival to elude Mullins thus far is the Champion Chase, but Chacun Pour Soi is currently odds-on to right that wrong. Little can be taken for granted, particularly as he was a horse with issues in his younger days and, although it was nothing in the grander scheme of things, he missed out on last year’s renewal when having to be pulled out on the morning of the race.


“Hopefully (he’ll get there) and give us the chance to try and put that away,” says Mullins. “He’s in great form since. He does everything right, and that’s all.

“There’s never anything wrong with him - until the morning of the race last year. He had his troubles early on in his career but now everything has settled down, he just goes up the gallop every morning, he’s very good.

“We want to see what he can do in Cheltenham. Can he be as good in Cheltenham as he looked in Leopardstown? He’s one of the ones, if you had to pick the top five or six out of the team travelling to Cheltenham, that we’re really hoping can bring his A-game there.”

The latter statement, said with no intent of arrogance or complacency, might be the greatest indication of the depth of the current Closutton squad – and also send shudders down the spines of his rival trainers.

One race Mullins certainly knows what it takes to win is the Champion Hurdle, having done so four times, and a fifth could come courtesy of arguably his most fascinating runner of the entire meeting - stable newcomer James Du Berlais, a horse Mullins has coveted for some time.


He was bought as a novice chaser, but one suspects the decision to pitch him straight in at the deep end is not being done with eyes closed. The five-year-old, now in the ownership of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, must be pulling up at trees at home, though Mullins is never going to admit such.

We’ve been watching him in France for the last 18 months, and trying to buy him, and they wouldn’t sell, and they were looking for a lot of money. And then, out of the blue, Simon and Isaac stepped in and did a deal with the trainer in France. They rang me to know would I like to train him, and it was a very pleasant surprise to get that call.
“He is (on course for the Champion Hurdle). He had a very busy season in France last year. He was bought as a novice chaser for next season, but it’s a long time to wait so we put him in training, and I was happy to run him somewhere.

“I’m not going to run him in the Stayers’ Hurdle, so I thought best to just let him run in the Champion Hurdle rather than have him doing nothing for the whole spring.

“I was delighted to see he is rated 167 on English ratings. That puts him in there with a shot. It’s going to be a true-run race, as it always is, and that will suit him.

“He jumps, he stays, he’s got everything you’d want. He can be a tough ride, from what I remember watching him in France. We’ll know a lot more about him over the next two weeks because we’ll be asking him questions we haven’t asked him before.

“It’s not the end of the world if he disappoints because he wasn’t bought with this in mind, but he’s a horse we’re really looking forward to long-term.”

Last season’s County Hurdle winner Saint Roi on the other hand has been ruled out of the Festival by Mullins.

The six-year-old was Barry Geraghty’s final Festival winner when bolting up in handicap company in March, and went into the summer as one of the leading players for the Champion Hurdle.

His season started well with a win at Tipperary in October - but since being stepped up in class, he has been beaten in the Morgiana Hurdle, the Matheson Hurdle and the Irish Champion.

Mullins said: “Unfortunately he’s out of Cheltenham.

Chatting to JP (McManus, owner) the other day we came to the conclusion that we’re not happy with him, and he won’t run at Cheltenham.
“He just hasn’t gone forward. He’s had one or two little niggles, and I think JP was happy to just let him get over those entirely.

“Maybe they are the reason - maybe not.”



Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: markmiwurdz on February 23, 2021, 08:37:47 am
Could have bigged him up a bit more alright,you can't blame Paul Townend for not being Ruby Walsh and aside from the one fuck up @ Punchestown I think he's a brilliant rider.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on February 23, 2021, 09:05:19 am
Could have bigged him up a bit more alright,you can't blame Paul Townend for not being Ruby Walsh and aside from the one fuck up @ Punchestown I think he's a brilliant rider.


Like any good team manager you talk up your team .Mullins talks up the horses but not the Jockey .Album photo wins 2 Gold Cups should be the Stable Star and he refers to him as an Ordinary Joe .I wonder if Townsend had not of won the Gold Cup if he would of gotten the Job .Be interesting to see if Townsend or Frankie gets the ride on the Fav in the Bumper ?
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on February 24, 2021, 10:58:03 pm
Patrick Mullins has not dismissed the prospect of turning professional after amateur riders were ruled out of next month’s Cheltenham Festival.

A ruling was made in January that amateurs would be temporarily prevented from competing under rules because of an ongoing rise in Covid-19 infections in Britain.

The move was made by the racing industry’s Covid-19 steering group, which constantly reviews coronavirus protocols to determine how racing can continue to strengthen its approach.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on March 16, 2021, 10:58:49 pm
Townsend 1 win 2 seconds ,Would Ruby of finished second ?
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: markmiwurdz on March 17, 2021, 01:00:30 pm
I would definitely expected Ruby to get Concertista home,thought Townend should have switched his stick close home.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on March 17, 2021, 04:56:31 pm
Townsend was a discrace on the big Gamble in the Bumper ..Rachel schooled the idiot in race riding .
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: Rat Catcher on March 17, 2021, 05:18:36 pm
Townsend 1 win 2 seconds ,Would Ruby of finished second ?

Absolutely not... but he woulda come down at the last if that's what Flutter Entertainment told him to do.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on March 17, 2021, 05:27:03 pm
He is second rate at best Rodent He gave the Favourite in the  mares race a mare of a ride .He waited to long to try win the Champion Chase ,and the Bumper was just pony club he lay to far back and the Young Girl from Tipperary gave him a lesson in race riding .Willy Mullins will get rid of him or at least bring in a new first jockey .Townsend is a journeyman at best .
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: Rat Catcher on March 17, 2021, 05:47:40 pm
I lost a virtual ten euro note on the stupid fucking cunt in the bumper but I guess only Mullinsisisis bookie knows if he was supposed to win. They're all as bent as a FG Taoiseach, erm.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: markmiwurdz on March 17, 2021, 08:12:47 pm
Townsend was a discrace on the big Gamble in the Bumper ..Rachel schooled the idiot in race riding .


Not his finest moment although all will be forgotten if Alboum Photo wins the Gold Cup on Friday.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: Belker on March 18, 2021, 07:18:06 am
Ruby to me seems to be one of the greatest hypocrites of all time just like his father before him.
Where once he stood his ground and denounced all TV presenters and more so Bookies (while in his Hayday). Today they are both the Shoe-shine boys of the aforementioned.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: Rat Catcher on March 18, 2021, 11:38:54 am
+1.
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: Punter on March 18, 2021, 12:03:50 pm
Have to hand it to AP yesterday --when Ed/Sarah and Luke were saying how great it was for racing that Tiger won in light of all controversy--AP said that the horse won because he was cared for all his life by people who knew their business and prepared him to a tee--how else could he have won so many times on the track !
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: Rat Catcher on March 18, 2021, 12:07:30 pm
Fantastic training performance on the part of Denise Foster. The difference between the Tiger Roll we seen a few weeks back and the Tiger Roll that showed up yesterday was night and day. She's obviously vastly improved conditions in that yard in a very short time. The powers that be should take note and ban that vulgar little man, Gordon Elliott, for life!
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on March 19, 2021, 03:29:36 pm
I worked one day since lockdown back on me tools and it was today so I missed an Invitation from the Rodent to socially distance pints of porter him on the big sofa and me on the comfortable one in the sunny seaside village .I was saying how bad Paul Townsend is as a Jockey and the Balbriggan wit opined that the only way Townsend would ride a Grade One Winner was if he rode Rachel Blackmore . rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl Genius funniest racing joke of all time
Title: Re: Unhappily Happy
Post by: john m on March 19, 2021, 03:54:59 pm
Townsend .He couldnt ride a drunken Whore .