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On my previous post I mentioned that the fine was insufficient and have since discovered that the maximum amount he could have been fined was something in the vicinity of fifteen hundred pounds anyway!!
IMO this somewhat tied the hands of the stewards and perhaps the limits for these fines should be reviewed to discourage actions like this.
I think my opinion regarding what happened is crystal clear and my opinion of the way Mullins goes about things has not changed.
The man is a good not great trainer and seems to think that the rules don’t apply to him and the money owners that he has means he is going to get away with things like this unless they change the rules.
Like Jac says lets draw a line under it and get on with the flat!
And be prepared for O’Brien doing the will he won’t he run scenario.
Sometimes you have to wonder what planet you are living on.
Mullins actually feels hard done by. I would suggest it might be a good idea if he lets his son do most of the talking next year.
Geraghty thinks he has been exonerated because an Appeal panel produced the most mystifying result in the history of Appeal panels. All the ‘working’ suggested he was guilty as charged yet they concluded he had no case to answer.
Yes, lets move on to the Flat where most of the leading human participants would make Willie Mullins look like an open book.
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.
I’m not decrying the owners part in racing as they are net contributors to the sport but this is an industry built on the contributions of the betting public. Without them there wouldn’t be an industry and the prize money the owners get is down to the public. Also the sport has rules and Mullins/Ricci broke them.
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see that coming”He deserves no credit at all for “being honest” but the fact remains if he had been dishonest and withdrawn due to “unsuitable ground”, he would have received no penalty at all (Nick Rust didn’t even know this on the Sunday Forum yesterday) and he would have received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.
You’re probably right about the penalty Yeats, but the penalty in itself is not the real issue, it’s no
more than a slap on the wrist which Mullins wrongly feels hard done by. The issue is pulling the horse
out minutes before the race, and whether the stewards would have accepted a made up explanation of the
going change or not, I don’t think anyone would have been fooled that the reason was simply because his
chance had gone to win the trainers c’ship. I think there would have been considerable flack either way.I wasn’t intending bringing the subject up again, but thought your observation on my comments warranted
a response to explain what I meant. However, it’s water under the bridge now and Punchestown looms
tomorrow. Although I didn’t like what Mullins did, I like the man, even though you would need to be
a clairvoyant to work out his intentions, and I wish him well this week at the festival.My issue with Mullins isn’t the late withdrawal of horses, it’s keeping all his good horses apart and denying us some fantastic racing. Hence Vautour going for the two miler at Punchestown and not clashing with Cue Card. And almost certainly keeping the best two mile hurdlers in racing apart with the possibility that Annie Power won’t even be seen at Cheltenham next year!!
Totally agree Patriot1, why is Vautour running in the two miler when he should be in the Gold Cup? No disrespect to the other horses in the race but it looks like the easy option and he’ll probably win in a canter. And likewise your comments surrounding Annie Power, it would be a crime for the horse not to return to cheltenham to defend her crown. Whatever anyone’s thoughts on Mullins as a trainer, this is always the fear when the best horses are housed in the one stable. A season or two back i had this crazy notion of seeing the likes of Vautour, UDS, Faugheen, Annie Power, Hurricane Fly, Douvan etc competing against each other in a Champion Hurdle, i can but dream.
VVM not declared for the stayers at Punchestown
Vroum Vroum Mag was about 10/1 to 12/1 for that race when it was deemed likely that she was running at Sandown.
When she skipped that meeting she was generally 2/1 for the Stayers at Punchestown.
Now she is not in the race and is favourite for the Mares race at 2/7.
I note that Limini was 4/5 for that race on Saturday and if anyone took those odds, they have to look now and see that she is 5/1.
Of course betting ante-post is a concious decision for the punter but this Mullins carry on means it’s just not worth getting involved until the day of the race. Even then you might just be backing one that gets pulled out at the whim of the trainer and/or owner.
This Punchestown meeting is doing nothing for me with these one horse races and I’ll be watching Nottingham instead today, rather than watching the over-hyped and ludicrous notion of a “showdown” between Vautour and Simonsig.
Pass the paint bucket please.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Steve why are you blaming Mullins for the price of his horses? He didn’t tell anyone where VVM was going. Just because the bookies change prices doesn’t mean they know any more than we do
Steve why are you blaming Mullins for the price of his horses? He didn’t tell anyone where VVM was going. Just because the bookies change prices doesn’t mean they know any more than we do
Where does it say I am blaming him for prices?
My point is that you cannot trust where the horses will end up.
I don’t think it does racing much good to have 1/4 and 2/7 favourites for Festival races and if the mindset is to always run in the easiest race available then it doesn’t make for exciting races.
Why bother entering Vroum Vroum Mag in races such as the Hennessey if you are going to end up piddling around in these mares only rubbish races?
It makes for tedious watching, so tedious that I won’t be watching and I imagine I am not alone.
I do realise that Willie Mullins is God for some people but nobody should be above the sport and its rules, not to mention sportsmanship and humility.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Well, there you go Vautour beaten, staying on at the finish over a distance that was too short for him.
Run your horses in the races that best suit them Willie, not trying to separate them into different races.
Mullins has made a complete bollox of Vautour. Running over two miles on a course that doesn’t suit was just silly, all to keep him and Djakadam apart.
Sometimes I just smile and nod knowingly!!
There is such a thing as karma and MR Mullins is getting some of it back now!!
Agree with you Wex re Vautour and I said in my previous post he is a good trainer not a great one!!
Great trainers run the right horse in the right race and he obviously hasn’t done that here and on numerous occasions in the past. Annie Power springs to mind !!
Vautour should have ran in the Gold Cup not the Ryanair.
Sometimes I just smile and nod knowingly!!
There is such a thing as karma and MR Mullins is getting some of it back now!!
Agree with you Wex re Vautour and I said in my previous post he is a good trainer not a great one!!
Great trainers run the right horse in the right race and he obviously hasn’t done that here and on numerous occasions in the past. Annie Power springs to mind !!
Vautour should have ran in the Gold Cup not the Ryanair.
Slim chance of Djakadam beating Cue Card so he’ll end up winning neither.
Also not surprised to find out Yorkhill got beat, haven’t seen the race but looked finished for the season at Aintree
Mullins has made a complete bollox of Vautour. Running over two miles on a course that doesn’t suit was just silly, all to keep him and Djakadam apart.
All part of Willie’s cunning plan no doubt. You shouldn’t really be defending the man’s mehodology and then condemning it in the very next breath.
Maybe Rich Ricci had said if it wasn’t this race for Vautour, then he wasn’t running at all and you know how rigidly he sticks to anything he utters regarding the horse
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Mullins, and I will defend him or anyone who I believe is being wrongly criticised, but I’m not blinkered enough not to be able to criticise when he has made an obvious mess of something. Vautour should never run on a right handed track and has lost the yard of pace to be able to win in such circumstances over 2 miles. Hopefully he will learn and start running this horse as a 3 mile horse. In truth he is a 2.5 miler but that grade has no prestige. Gold cup up obvious target now. Maybe the plan for Mullins was to decide today if he was going to be aimed at the champion Chase next year or not.
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