Why William Patrick Mullins is so superior

Tanlic

Tanlic

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No getting away from it Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliot are streets ahead of the majority of English based trainers.

Much of this is down to how they bring there young horses up through the ranks.

They keep it simple. If they have the best novice in the race you will seldom see him being held up 10 and 15 lengths behind the leader.

More likely the first and 2nd fav take advantage of an early position and most of the time will set off in the first two places.

Our jockeys all seem to think holding up a horse out the back door gives them some sort of an advantage. where one bad jump can cost them dearly.

A good jockey can hold a horse up in the lead something Paul Townend has become an expert doing.

He'll poach a 5 length lead and switch his mount off and wins dozens of racing doing exactly that

Whereas Sean Bowen will drop his mounts out and hold them up for a late run.........great when it works but WHY one must ask.

Quite frankly I reckon our jockeys and trainers think too much about tactics which can be very costly
 
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I've always wondered why jockeys don't get a more prominent position in races.in flat races the draw can be important so being out the back over jumps has got to be the same.
When they are lobbing along at the back and then the pace quickens they are at a disadvantage.
 
Tanlic said:
No getting away from it Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliot are streets ahead of the majority of English based trainers.

Much of this is down to how they bring there young horses up through the ranks.

They keep it simple. If they have the best novice in the race you will seldom see him being held up 10 and 15 lengths behind the leader.

More likely the first and 2nd fav take advantage of an early position and most of the time will set off in the first two places.

Our jockeys all seem to think holding up a horse out the back door gives them some sort of an advantage. where one bad jump can cost them dearly.

A good jockey can hold a horse up in the lead something Paul Townend has become an expert doing.

He'll poach a 5 length lead and switch his mount off and wins dozens of racing doing exactly that

Whereas Sean Bowen will drop his mounts out and hold them up for a late run.........great when it works but WHY one must ask.

Quite frankly I reckon our jockeys and trainers think too much about tactics which can be very costly
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Imo, it's all about them having the better horses.
No way do the Irish dominate flat racing (despite Coolmore's millions).
As with football,it boils down to how much is invested.
,
 
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WPM has the best spotters in France, and the owners with the deepest pockets.

Everything else largely takes care of itself (though I’m in no way doubting his ability to train, race-plan etc).
 
As anyone else noticed or am I imagining it...quite a few of Mullins horses run with their head bowed, and all the jockeys restrain them in the same manner; hands tucked at the scruff, loose rein. It has to be more than a coincidence, and surely more air is easily inhaled with this style...
 
If you see a horse during a race and you could hang your washing on lose reins back him. Ruby was a master at dropping his hands and putting horse to sleep. Francome was the same but Ruby would have ridden him to sleep in a finish..My opinion and I am sticking to it :0)
 
Grasshopper said:
WPM has the best spotters in France, and the owners with the deepest pockets.

Everything else largely takes care of itself (though I’m in no way doubting his ability to train, race-plan etc).
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Willie Mullins didn't always have top class chasers it took him about 10 years to break his Cheltenham duck with Florida Pearl in the bumper and I think he was probably his first Cheltenham chase winner and he went on to still be winning as a 12 year old.

Paul Nichols was training for only 8 years when he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup so Willie took 31 years so it was hardly an easy road for him.
 
Grasshopper said:
WPM has the best spotters in France, and the owners with the deepest pockets.

Everything else largely takes care of itself (though I’m in no way doubting his ability to train, race-plan etc).
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The deeper pockets thing deserves some depth.

He has a greater pool of owners willing to spend good money on a horse but I would not say he is spending collosal amounts like Gordon or even PFN

His network of spotters and trust from his owners allow him to stockpile horses rather than buy the red ferrari each time
 
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WPM is honest with his owners.
Everyone is equal, no favours for JP, Ricci, Minir , Giggi or anyone else.
If your horse has the ability it runs, regardless of what else is running from the stable.
He saw first hand the effect Mrs Hill's antics had on his family morale.
He was a pupil assistant to Jim Bolger, another my way or the highway person.
I witnessed at Cheltenham the effect Road To Riches being switched from Gold Cup to Ryanair Chase had on Noel Meade; WPM was consoling him and shielding him from public eyes .
Giggi horses left Closutton that summer.
You get what you pay for with Willie but you pay for everything.
His buyers , agents and staff act as if WPM is at their shoulder at all times.
He then makes it look easy , doffs his hat to all and sundry and can sleep at night.
The only time he appeared rattled was 2011/12 season when Hurricane Fly missed early season engagements and inquiries got the better of his patience.
 
Frankel said:
Does help having the best horses!
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The question you want to ask is why does he have the best horses.A small part of it is due to his ability to handle incredibly wealthy owners -imagine sitting down with himself and Ruby and talking horses with them for half an hour.I know a few guys in a syndicate who had a Graded horse in training with him maybe 15 years ago -they always felt he avoided them at the races.
 
Outsider said:
I've always wondered why jockeys don't get a more prominent position in races.in flat races the draw can be important so being out the back over jumps has got to be the same.
When they are lobbing along at the back and then the pace quickens they are at a disadvantage.
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It depends on the pace in the race, I would think.

If a horse is a hold-up type then a slow pace is no good at all since the horse will be hard to settle and then, when they quicken off a slow pace, being at the back of the field is the worst possible position.

If they go off furiously, then this will benefit the hold-up type since that pace can't be maintained all the way to the line and the front runners are susceptible to the late finishers.

So it's not simple, tis race-riding, is it?
 
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I am sure I mentioned before a night in Kiely's Donnybrook during the crash , 2009 or so.
About six people in the bar post Christmas Leopardstown meet, that was all.
Myself and Baldeagle were enjoying lamb shank and a bottle of red when in walked WPM and Rich Ricci.
We watched, amazed as Rich did his minister for funny walks act while WPM sat, silently sipping his pint.
We thought surely the man had better things to do than watch a comic/tragic cabaret act.
At the time Rich had about 10 horses at Closutton, he soon had fifty.
That Kiely's was near empty that time of the year told the state of the Irish economy.
Willie knew what he was doing, had to do.
He has his mother's patience also......obviously.
 
I had to laugh at Patrick...he said he has known Willie to only have 2 bets for ante post bets for Cheltenham.

Then when it came round he never ran either of them in the races he backed them in.:lol:
 
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