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Apparently out for another full season. His novice hurdling campaign was truly outstanding, but this quite a blow for connections of such talented horse.
Poor Ballyburn. He ran a cracker at Cheltenham and would have been closer than he was if not for the final hurdle interference.
Like Galopin Des Champs we are left in the dark to second guess what has happened. Maybe we don;t need to know but Nicky Henderson cops a fair bit of stick whenever one of his horses suffer a setback but at least he’ll explain what the problem the horse has suffered.Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
Like Galopin Des Champs we are left in the dark to second guess what has happened. Maybe we don;t need to know but Nicky Henderson cops a fair bit of stick whenever one of his horses suffer a setback but at least he’ll explain what the problem the horse has suffered.
I agree with that Nathan. As far as Mullins goes we never know what kind of setback the horse suffered. Maybe it’s just an Irish thing, I don’t know. Aidan also rarely provides a full diagnosis….
With his head carriage during a race it could be a nose injury… seriously will be come back , I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s retired
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Bit off subject , but what ever happened to The Nice Guy , has he been officially retired now ?
He will be 9, rising 10 by the time he comes back (if he comes back). It is difficult to envisage him winning anything significant now.
I suppose he has to be considered a disappointment. He looked to have the world at his feet two years ago but maybe that race wasn’t as strong as it looked at the time.
Mullins started him off over the wrong distance as a chaser and he was emphatically put in his place by the late Sir Gino. He looked good again when winning at Leopardstown but his performance in the Brown Advisory was dreadful.
I still think he should have won the Stayers Hurdle and it wasn’t Townend’s finest hour. However, I wonder if Ballyburn had become one of those horses who makes his own bad luck? He looked like a difficult ride with that ridiculously low head carriage.
It seemed to me that Mullins saw the horse as the heir to Galopin Des Champs but it didn’t turn out that way.
” I wonder if Ballyburn had become one of those horses who makes his own bad luck? He looked like a difficult ride with that ridiculously low head carriage”
That’s the crux of it I think. You can’t shorten up a horse like that into an obstacle, and I imagine even manoeuvering between runners on a bend is that much harder. I know cutting horses have their heads right down- but they’re doing it all themselves and the rider just has to balance on top.
“We don’t need to know” – Why? Now try that in any other sport…and you’d be grilled endlessly…..
Team manager/coach: Player X is out for a year at least with an injury…….
Press: What injury is it??
Team manager/ coach: You don’t need to know…..
Press: Really? It doesn’t work like that – what are you trying to hide…???? Right, we’ll make stuff up, insinuating there’s more going on……Your call…..
Team manager/ coach: No comment – and walks out…..However, horse racing just accepts it…….You get the sport you deserve. For too long the racing media have not asked questions……Probably the worst bunch of press in sport.
lol take a snippet of the quote. The rest of it was me basically saying why don’t we hear from Mullins and at least we do from Hendo.
“Maybe” the stick Hendo gets for having fragile horses but explaining the issues is a reason why Mullins doesn’t and doesn’t get stick.Gaelic Warrior Gold Cup Winner 2026
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