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Perhaps the great gambling public would like to contribute to the bills. They must realise that this is an industry built on someones private ownership of an animal, and that they have the last say in what it does.
Perhaps they would like to pay the bills and run horses for no prize money whatsoever
Perhaps the great gambling public would like to contribute to the bills. They must realise that this is an industry built on someones private ownership of an animal, and that they have the last say in what it does.
Perhaps you should contact the Trainers Federation and suggest they should be fighting to get poor old Willie’s fine overturned?
I suspect for many he has made a complete fool of himself – again. All this nonsense about regrouping. This was a Trainers Championship, not the Retreat From Moscow.
Unfortunately, you appear to be almost as narrow minded as the trainer. Owners and trainers can’t and shouldn’t be allowed to treat the sport with complete contempt.
Was there a going change prior to the horses being withdrawn in the last? If not, they should all have been fined.
I didn’t like the way the end of the season was shaping up, echoes of Pipe Vs Nicholls a few years back when horses were desperately thrown at anything in the last few weeks. I was surprised Mullins got sucked into it and even more surprised to see the likes of Un De Sceaux entered up and even more so VVM. He should have just let Nicholls jump up and down pumping his fists like a schoolboy and got on with preparing his horses for the targets he would have normally chosen for them.
I think on private reflection Willie will feel he shouldn’t have allowed this to interfere with his normal course of decision making.
On the withdrawals, complete mockery but lots of withdrawals are just as bad every day of the week. Look out at Chester for withdrawals of those drawn high in sprints, for example. At least Mullins was honest.The man has recent form at this caper in the shape of Vautour.
He seems a very nice and pleasant man, but when it comes to having winners at festival meetings, he will do anything and everything.
Fair play though for not hiding behind a vet’s cert or going change or other such nonsense.
If nothing else, it is a useful end of season reminder to put your festival ante-post betting boots in the charity shop – that’s where mine are.
I can see and understand why they pulled the horse out but I don’t like it.
How many interviews do they have a week? They must have thought about this as a possibility, it wouldn’t of hurt to say beforehand that it might happen.Charles Darwin to conquer the World
As I said on the other thread, why the big deal over the Trainers Championship?
If Willie Mullins wanted to win this so badly, why not set out a proper campaign to win it, rather than the half-assed attempt he made right at the end of the season?
This seemed to be little more than a “who can piss higher up the wall” competition than a dignified and Sporting contest set up at the start of the season.
It’s fair enough not to risk a horse on a perceived risky track but Willie Mullins would have done just that had he been in with a shout and that’s the hypocrisy of it.
Of course you will never convince blinkered Mullins followers that the “Great Man” can do any wrong.
Willie Mullins surely isn’t that insecure about his standing as a trainer that he needs to looking down the back of an old battered couch for prize money to boost his UK Title Chase?
If I were him, I would be concentrating on getting the Cheltenham Gold Cup monkey off his back and would pass on my own humble advice that you would be best served running your best horse in the race, instead of a one-paced cuddy.
Vroum Vroum Mag was a different scenario to the non-runners in the later race, as a high profile horse fancied strongly in a feature race.
£1000 is pointless buttons to people like Rich Ricci and Mullins. Money and success can never buy sportsmanship and class, those guys are selling plater level in the latter categories.
I think Paul Nicholls had the higher urine mark on the wall once Willie’s toys were put back in the pram by the way.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
I don’t think he can be much more honest than he was in that sound clip. He apologized to punters, he gave the real reason (didn’t try to fob people off with nonsense about the ground like Nichols did), and the real reason makes perfect sense. If i owned VVM I would prefer she run in a grade 1 in punchestown than an unimportant listed race in Sandown, but in the case where the British championship could be won by my trainer who I’ve had so much success with, I would be delighted to help him achieve that, but as soon as it became unachievable I would want my horse to revert to the original plan.
Mullins is getting more stick for this than Nicholls despite them both withdrawing horses and even though at least Mullins gave the real reason as to the withdrawal. The relative abilities and the prices of the horses shouldn’t matter.The only time the BHA/Stewards do anything about non runners/withdrawals is when they have a penalty kick with no goalkeeper like Mullins yesterday and even then it’s dependent on the trainer being honest. What would they have done if he had said unsuitable ground?
There are multitudes of non runners every week that they do sweet FA about, when was the last time a trainer was penalised for withdrawing a high drawn horse at Chester? 21 non runners at Wetherby last Sunday, what did the BHA do about them?
Horses can even be withdrawn and run a day or two after, it’s farcical. Situations like Mullins could be avoided if any horse withdrawn for any reason was barred from running for the next 6/7 days. Meanwhile the current system clearly encourages lying and the BHA don’t give a monkey’s, that’s what Mullins should have done, lied. Maybe he would have done if he’d had a bit more time to think about it.
It’s the BHA and the system that are at fault not an isolated trainer.
Nicholls is just as bad but then I expect it from him. The mans arrogance knows no end.
Absolute rubbish about the ability of the horses not mattering. When it’s a high profile horse that an audience has paid and wanted to see of course it’s more significant. Vvm was a very significant runner . Imagine if it was ss on the card in one particular race where thousands had been on the gate and then it’s withdrawn for same reason?
Mullins comments almost indicating that he was doing us a favour by coming over grated too. I like him but it wasn’t his finest day
The childish comments about PN seem to be a tiresome feature in this forum. He’s spent most of the last two weeks repeatedly emphasising the team effort and that is far from arrogant in my book. He committed the cardinal sin of celebrating a fine win in the national of course. I’m well pleased he larged it and showed what he felt
Top man
Mullins seems to be getting kudos for “being honest” about his reasons for
withdrawing VVM. It’s a bit like kicking some one up the a**e, and then saying
“oh I’m sorry about that, just to let you know that it was me that kicked you
up the a**e, I’m sorry if you didn’t see that coming”The fact is that Mullins pulled the hot favourite out of a race minutes before
the off, simply because he could enter her in a more valuable race, when the
monetary value of the race would have absolutely no meaning to the multi millionaire
owners. It gave no consideration to the punters that had placed ante post bets,
and more importantly it was disrespectful to the organisers at Sandown and not
least of all the people who paid good money, wanting to see, along with others,
Vroum Vroum Mag.If those that think the arguement of pulling the horse out because the trainers
championship was wrapped up, holds water, then why would Mullins not indicate,
as has been mooted on here, that there was a danger of him pulling horses out
if the circumstances arose that their winning would have no influence on the
outcome of the trainers championship. I’ll tell you one reason, he would have
been told by the racing authorities that this was not a valid reason for
withdrawing a horse immediately prior to a race going off. Had he flouted
that warning, I think the racing authorities would not have been nearly
as lenient as they were……and Mullins would know that.It’s just bad craic, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I’m a big fan of
Mullins, the guy’s a genius, and I can understand honest punters getting annoyed
about his moving of horses around at the Festival. I’m not one of them, because I
expect it. I didn’t see this one coming, and as I mentioned before, when all the
dust settles I think that Mullins and the Ricci’s may think that this wasn’t their
finest hour.What a shame the jumps season had to wind up with bad feeling, both trainers have done incredibly well with their horses and well done to Paul Nichols for slaying Goliath at the last gasp.
Now…
perhaps we can concentrate on the flat season at last and all the hype which will switch to Aiden O’Brien and which of his horses (if any) is going to win the first 2 Classics of the season
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Wise words Triptych. Both trainers played ‘cat and mouse’ with each other which resulted in a nail-biting climax in the last few hours. I enjoyed it but was always rooting for Nichols.
Jesus Christ, he’s at it again! I’ve just read that Vautour will not run in the Punchestown Gold Cup. This man would not piss on you if were on fire!
Mullins seems to be getting kudos for “being honest” about his reasons for
withdrawing VVM. It’s a bit like kicking some one up the a**e, and then saying
“oh I’m sorry about that, just to let you know that it was me that kicked you
up the a**e, I’m sorry if you didn’t see that coming”He deserves no credit at all for “being honest” but the fact remains if he had been dishonest and withdrawn due to “unsuitable ground”, he would have received no penalty at all (Nick Rust didn’t even know this on the Sunday Forum yesterday) and he would have received a hell of lot less flak on forums, twitter etc.
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