Punchestown Day 5

I liked the look of Tarla as a horse for the future when I saw her before the Prix Bournosienne at Auteuil last year CL. She finished second on the day (to Nikoline who's placed in open sex graded events since) but was probably a touch lucky as the now Jonjo O'Neill trained Sway was travelling very well when coming down in the straight.

She struck me as the sort who'd improve with time and has had approximately 2 1/2 months to acclimatise (she left France at the start of Feb) and as far as I know was out of training after her run in November so hopefully the Mullins yard will be able to find that improvement in her.

She's well bred too being a sister to the lightly raced listed winner Overlord, listed placed Targentiel and dual Auteuil handicap scorer Tir Au Pigeon.

Be interesting to see how the market prices her up - hope it doesn't go overboard with the whole Townend/Mullins form this week and get too carried away. Would happily take 9/2 though.
 
Tarla strikes me as one who will be massively overbet, given the weight she recieves, and the form of the yard.

I personally can't have her rated any higher than low-120's, and with the trip potentially on the sharp side, no guarantees she will act on the ground, and looking worse than handicap terms with a few of these, I have to be a layer. I've gone in against her in both the Win and Place markets.
 
The market suggests she is doing all the right things at home.

Grasshopper said:
Tarla strikes me as one who will be massively overbet, given the weight she recieves, and the form of the yard.

I personally can't have her rated any higher than low-120's, and with the trip potentially on the sharp side, no guarantees she will act on the ground, and looking worse than handicap terms with a few of these, I have to be a layer. I've gone in against her in both the Win and Place markets.
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Bobbyjo said:
Brave play, Grassy

Brave play
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Possibly more stupid than brave, Bobbyjo.

Gal, the market may also be a reflection of a Mullins-trained, Townend-ridden, winner from France. At 6/4 and a shade over 1/2 in the respective markets, I reckoned it was worth testing theory. It's not like she is 100% unexposed on her French form, and on my reading of her record, she's no cert under todays conditions. Granted, if you want t improv one, you could do a lot worse than Mullins, but she has a few lbs to find with some of these, even in receipt of the weight (imo) and she is worth taking on

Apologies for the spelling - I'm typing this on a twatberry.
 
I laid her for a place as well.
I was personally delighted to see Barizan win despite no financial interest.
 
Astounding result for one trainer. He must have a damn good team backing him up, which I hope gets decent bonuses for helping to produce so many wins, let alone the placings. He seems a nice chap, quite laid back and modest on camera, anyway. Long may they enjoy such good times.
 
Mullins is simply the best, it is not only the winners, is how he placed the horses and is a pleasure to listen to him in the interviews.
 
Only heard today that Tarla was the horse that worked well with Hurricane Fly the weekend before Punchestown - Mullins in an interview couldnt remember who HF had worked so well with...well someone remembered given the money that went on her!

Grasshopper said:
Won with a ton in hand - typical of the way my season has gone.

Hibernation beckons.
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He's running a Gold mine down there between the fees, punting and prize money. Not to mention the buying and selling. He earns it though.

One criticism is there are afew smart horses in his yard that would be stable stars elsewhere that are not used to their potential.
 
Well, that's what you hope to do when you take out a trainer's licence, Sheikh! No point in arseing around with half-baked horses and a desultory effort, knowing you can gull a lot of people to keep rubbish in training, as long as they believe your fairy stories. I imagine he's got a very good team underpinning his efforts, since you won't get far if you've got rapidly-changing, poor quality staff. If he has, then that's down to his management skills as much as his horsey ones. He seems very likeable, and I wish him and his crew all the best for the future.
 
Sheikh said:
One criticism is there are afew smart horses in his yard that would be stable stars elsewhere that are not used to their potential.
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I'd agree with you there. It is very frustrating for some owners in the yard. He won't tell you what the plan is for your horse as the plan needs to fit in around other horses. So he could have three entered for a race and only decide on the Friday which one runs. And even if your horse is in good form and ready to run, he might decide that another one of his runners is better suited to the race. But I guess you go into it with your eyes wide open.
 
Spot on there.He wouldn't be great at telling owners involved in a race where he has a few runners what the score is either.In big yards the owners become slaves to the trainer .
 
If the results are to go by, thank God that the tail doesn't wag the dog. Owners often have quite unreasonable expectations or, at their worst, can insist on running a horse at a certain venue for social or status reasons, regardless of its welfare. Sure, Mullins may be busy placing other horses ahead of yours, but if yours gets its fair turn and you feel you're getting a fair return, then everyone should be happy enough. There are plenty of others to take your horse to if not.
 
There's no fear of any one telling Wille Mullins what to do.

Just pointing out that some horses would achieve more in a smaller yard.
There are plenty of good small trainers around who would be in a position to manage some of his charges careers better.
 
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Jayo?!!!?!!!

What would you do with him? He's no superstar in my book. Can't see what Mullins has done wrong.

He'd go back over hurdles if he were mine.
 
Aragorn said:
Jayo?!!!?!!!

He's no superstar in my book. Can't see what Mullins has done wrong.

He'd go back over hurdles if he were mine.
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That's the point, try reading all of the posts not just one line/word.

Hurdles would certainly be worth considering instead of lining him up week in week out for races he can't win.
 
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