Punchestown Festival 2018

How close to his best was Faugheen yesterday?

He looked like a faded pallid old man when edgt and I saw him at the Dublin Festival in February and I thought he was gone for good.

As he turned into the straight yesterday I was fully expecting him to be passed by at least one if not several other horses but not a bit of it, he blew them away. His time was 2.8 seconds (roughly 14 lengths) quicker than Penhill's and also, as it happens, A Great View's in the handicap over the same trip. That suggests that the pace set by Faugheen for most of the race was ordinary enough and it was his finishing surge which killed off his rivals, which is how it looked to the eye as well.

No doubt milder weather has helped to cheer him up and the longer trip probably suits him best these days as his stamina improves.
 
More chance of Faugheen going to stud than there is him NOT going chasing.

Mullins spoke a lot of sense you juts don't get many that can win in top class hurdling at 11 years of age but there's plenty chasers that do and not many out there could match Faigheen's pace
 
Not a fan of Ted Walsh and his TV persona, but one of the sweetest things that I've seen was him on the Late Late Show with Katie - when she was just starting out - and Katie suffered badly with her stutter under the nerves and Ted reached out and held her hand to calm her. Have to say, I didn't think that I could have a hero younger than me, but Katie Walsh is as close to one that I have. Never once did she do anything (publicly at least) that didn't reflect real class and dedication to be the best jockey she could be. Even when it was showing just how normal she was. Thinking of how she came across as somewhat embarrassed during Claire Balding did on her when she was the subject of portrait artist of the year. Anyway. delighted that she is leaving on her own terms.
 
True Katie and Nina took the sport to new levels with competitiveness , kindness and friendliness to each other, the public and those who employed them.
Great to see each go out on winners, in one piece and at the top of their game.
Nina is proof of how much brother Paul could have achieved if he only gave a s''te.
Amazing to think Tommy, Paul and Nina all won on their first Festival rides; some family.
 
One of the things Punchestown does best is separate racing from non racing activities in a common sense way that does not effect the enjoyment by either group.
Even yesterday with families filling all enclosures it was possible to get around, see the horses, have a drink and a bet without having to queue.
Exiting the racecourse was easy also as the fine day had no one in a rush to leave, apart from Ml O'Leary.
Top marks to all race course folk there for their planning and management, a lesson that could be learned by many others.
 
Punchestown did, indeed, get a lot right but they made a complete hash of the arrangements for owners. A much trumpeted new lounge was limited to 4 wristbands per owner. They have done this in the past but have always had an owners & trainers bar where people could meet up. No such facility this year even for the likes of Wylie and Ricci. Fairyhouse and Leopardstown do a much better job in this area.

Personally it was a great week with 2 winners and a fourth although Cadmium and Kemboy have been handed a good few extra pounds by the handicapper for their pains. I managed to get over for the Thursday and ticking the Punchestown winner box capped off a day to savour with the performances of Faugheen and Footpad. Interesting to note that, carrying 17lb less, Cadmium covered the course 3.4 seconds quicker than Footpad. Obviously, it doesn't put him up there with Footpad but it does indicate a quality performance as does the 13lb hike. Kemboy goes up 9lb to 156.
 
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Congratulations Archie. Not only two winners, but such a thrill to be there to witness one of them winning at such a great Festival.
 
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Cheers Paul.

I've had a fair amount of flak over the piece for trying to defend Willie's methods so I'll just rely on a few stats for now.

2017/18 season
Mullins 212 winners from 797 runners. I'm struggling to think of any horse that ran more than ten times. None of mine ran more than six.
Elliott 210/1255
O'Brien 67/473

All fine efforts from very good trainers.

Punchestown - WPM
18 winners
13 different owners
10 different jockeys
 
There's no doubting that Willie is a superb trainer, but I suspect he'll always polarise opinion. I think it's probably fair to say though that the majority have him in the genius category.

The more recent concerns have been expressed about horses that have run too often this season or even doubled up last week. I don't buy that if I'm honest. In the past Martin Pipe and Paul Nicholls have been bigger culprits than Willie was this season. And Gordon runs his far more than Willie. Either way Willie gave Gordon a bloody nose at Punchestown, and the interview Gary O'Brien did with Gordon was the best indicator of how he's feeling. The words were positive, but the body language was from a man who was pretty despondent. I wonder whether he might change tack slightly next season and keep his better horses much fresher through the season.

That stat about Willie being second in the Trainers Championship sums it up for me really. It's a remarkable achievement, but it once again raises concerns about the health of Irish racing when. 95% of the best equine talent being in only in two stables can't be healthy. As an owner I wouldn't care, and I'd be more than happy to have a horse with either, as I would with Henderson and Nicholls, but as a racing fan I am concerned that we'll see more and more of the smaller stables going out of business.

It's pretty tough to make a living on 20 or so 100 rated horses, with little prizemoney coming through the door, and new owners barely noticing you exist.
 
In the old days, by which I mean about ten years ago, :D it would have been inconceivable for a trainer in Ireland to train more than 200 winners in a season and to win more prize money than any stable in Britain. Nobody in Ireland was operating on the scale of a Nicholls or even a Nicholson. Now there are two such trainers, which certainly puts a serious squeeze on everyone else.

But look at how Henderson monopolised Aintree once the big Irish stables were out of the way. Is something similar happening/about to happen in Britain too?

The upside for Irish followers is that there have never been more good horses based in Ireland, which makes it possible to stage festivals of racing of a seriously high standard.

The downside, obviously enough, is loss of diversity and concentration of power in too few hands. The same thing is going on in the wider economy too, by the way. As the governor of the Bank of England suggested the other day, Marx might be about to make a comeback!
 
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archie said:
Cheers Paul.

I've had a fair amount of flak over the piece for trying to defend Willie's methods so I'll just rely on a few stats for now.

2017/18 season
Mullins 212 winners from 797 runners. I'm struggling to think of any horse that ran more than ten times. None of mine ran more than six.
Elliott 210/1255
O'Brien 67/473

All fine efforts from very good trainers.

Punchestown - WPM
18 winners
13 different owners
10 different jockeys
Click to expand...


Between Cheltenham & Punchestown Willie had 18 different winning owners. That is a lot of happy owners who are likely to re-invest. Last week he saddled horses for 45 different owners. Gordon has become very dependent on Gigginstown and I'm not sure that a business model built on the whims of Michael O'Leary is prudent in the long term.
 
WPM looking at sending a good team to Auteuil on 19th and 20th May including Djakadam for the Grand Steeplechase, as well as Faugheen, Saglawy, Mr Adjudicator,Stormy Ireland and possibly Penhill.
 
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