Tiger Woods won 14 majors in an 11-year period and was once the No. 1 golfer in the world for 281 weeks. Did we find his success boring? No chance. We marveled at his spectacular performance and proclaimed him the greatest golfer ever seen.
The West Indian cricket team is still used as a reference point in the sport today because of the stranglehold they had on their domain. Are we tired of their exploits? Do me a favour. We continue to talk about them in reverent tones because they showed us a new way of playing.
So why are people so keen to dismiss the Willie Mullins era of National Hunt as boring? I’ve heard that argument, after his win at eight Grade Ones last weekend, and I’m amazed at how this is negative for racing.
Sporting greatness is never boring. Ever. The All Blacks, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, The Chicago Bulls – no one rolls their eyes when they talk about the glorious successes and memories they created. And the more they won, the more they wanted to win.
Graeme Souness, my esteemed fellow columnist, always emphasized this point when we worked at Sky. He leaned forward from his chair, adjusted the legs of his trousers and said of his iconic Liverpool team: ‘That, Ed, was when we won everything.’ Mullins is winning everything now. A month after leaving Cheltenham, he has fourteen favorites and it is inevitable that at some point during those four fantastic days he will take his tally of festival winners (currently 94) above 100.
Willie Mullins is approaching a milestone of 100 Cheltenham Festival winners
But why isn’t his success celebrated in a way similar to that of other titans of the sports world, such as Tiger Woods?
He has the best horses, but don’t lazily assume this came easily. That is not the case. Mullins has built his business organically and has worked tirelessly to make his stable attractive to owners willing to spend big. He has a forensic brain and the political skills of a diplomat. When I look at Mullins, I see something of Jürgen Klopp, who is never afraid to appoint someone to his Liverpool staff with expertise in a particular area if it will help his team make marginal gains.
Thomas Gronnemark, a Dane, was brought in as throw-in coach. Mona Nemmer, a leader in nutrition, was recruited to improve the team’s diet. Klopp felt comfortable delegating for the good of the team, and look at the fruits it paid for him.
It’s a similar story at Closutton, where Mullins is based. He is surrounded by three of the best minds in racing: his son Patrick, Ruby Walsh and David Casey. Then there’s Harold Kirk, a bloodstock agent who is the best in his field at buying shares from France. Of course, real sport depends on competition, but does Mullins’ power threaten to ruin Cheltenham? Not for one second. The archetypal racegoer to Cheltenham, or ITV viewer, just wants a good time and a bet, especially a bet both ways.
Willie could have all eight in a race – which, admittedly, would be a bad look and punters don’t like to think the stable knows much more than them – but I still believe that would be less of a concern than a small field or, heaven forbid, a match.
Sir Alex Ferguson was part of a consortium that paid £634,000 for Caldwell Potter this week
Last Sunday Mullins saddled Fact To File against Gaelic Warrior and if that happened in Cheltenham all hell would break loose. There is a significantly different dynamic when you have 65,000 on track, compared to 20,000. Put it this way, I’d rather watch a group of Mullins horses, from different owners, going full throttle for a prize than some of the ‘races’ we’ve seen here recently. If Warwick had not been abandoned today it would have been the Kingmaker Chase, but there were only three explanations. We decided not to show it on ITV; it was of no use to us.
Small fields are the scourge of racing, not the quality of one trainer, and isn’t it up to the rest to get him? Tiger, Federer and Bolt have all taken their rivals to their level and it’s also worth remembering that nothing lasts forever: someone will always show up to challenge.
People are certainly willing to put up a fight and it was fascinating to see how Sir Alex Ferguson was involved this week in signing Caldwell Potter for £634,000, a sum greater than the amount he paid for Denis Irwin paid! He is now trained by Paul Nicholls, another man who loves competition.
And competition is exactly what you’ll see today, when the focus is on the Betfair Hurdle. Whoever wins knows that he has taken part in a race. Why? The favorite, Ocastle Des Mottes, will be ready for battle. He was trained by Willie Mullins.
