Annie Power

How could anyone back a Mullins horse for Cheltenham this early. We wont know at the end of February where they are being aimed atnever mind the start of November.

By February you mean Monday 9th March in Mullins world?

More Of That is in my view an exceptional beast. Take him out and we would be hailing a great mare who easily stays 3 miles. The mares is still a weak as pi55 event. They've spoken of her in glowing terms re chasing so logic would suggest that the RSA would be a stepping stone this year to a tilt at the big 3 mile events next year. Of course they may the have a look at the option of the lesser distance and prestige novice event or they could leave her hurdling. It is Mullins and I wouldn't seek to second guess him or bet his horses ante post.

Bang on Fidway.
Leave camp Mullins alone till the tapes are ready to go up

Let's be honest she'll be stuck in the mares, it's a Grade 1 now don't forget

No disrespect to the mares involved but it remains a Grade 1 in name only. You can't invent tradition but more importantly competitiveness. The owner clearly isn't in the game just to pick up baubles.

WILLIE MULLINS has confirmed star mare Annie Power, who has been beaten only once in her 12-race career, is to stay hurdling this season.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Mullins told the Racing Post: "We've decided that Annie Power will be campaigned over hurdles rather than fences this season. There are lots of opportunities for her over different distances - the OLBG Mares Hurdle at Cheltenham. which is now a Grade 1, being one of them.

"However, we're not specifying any long-term targets for her at this stage. We'll see how things go and she will have plenty of options through the season.

"While we were discussing what to do, we entered her up for a few races including the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Hatton's Grace Hurdle but there are no definite plans for her first run of the season just yet. We'll wait until she is ready."

Annie Power has won eight of her nine races over hurdles and met with her only defeat when beaten by More Of That in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

She is 10-1 for that contest this term, 14-1 for the Stan James Champion Hurdle and 5-4 favourite for the mares' race, which her former stablemate Quevega won a record six times.

MARES HURDLE

Extremely disappointing, but unsurprising.

She'll be fiddling about in the same races as she did last year before winning the mares hurdle for the next 4 years.

walofs!!!!!!!!!!!

What's she going to run in then buddeliea ?

ricci says she wouldn't have seen which way they went in the champion last year, ruby isnt sure she's a stayer, mares hurdle for sure.

by that i mean, ruby isnt sure staying is her game. she obviously stayed the 3m trip in the WH.

Well shes better than the Mares Hurdle...Grade 1??!!!
Thats a joke as well.


Personally having seen her close up, if she aint a chaser I don't know who is!!
She would be a fascinating addition to the novice chase scene, and very exciting.

Still if they want another Quevega...so be it.
Boring imo.

Blacktype is blacktype when it comes to breeding.

i agree, dont want to see her in mares, but it looks inevitable. she gets there on the day fit and well, she's a 1/3 shot.

Still, at least she will have a bar at Cheltenham named after her in a few years.

It's not really surprising to see a top class mare being kept over hurdles, even if they look like a chaser. They will no doubt wish to breed with her, and why not given her class.

yeh I know all that,and its fair comment,but I just like to see horses reach their full potential,i don't think this is the way to do it with AP,but it is just my take on it.

I think people are reading way too much into the decision to keep AP over hurdles this season. Surely the fact that RR has two potential stars (Vautour & PA) going novice chasing had quite a lot to do with it. If she went chasing chances are she would have bumped into either one come Cheltenham. By keeping her over hurdles the team get to avoid any potential match-ups. It's a win-win for them.

Next season could be a whole different ball game given that she is still only a 6 year old. Also there is no way that RR sits back and lets WPM do a Quevega on her as you can see he is just itching to aim her at the very top. imo.

Also there is no way that RR sits back and lets WPM do a Quevega on her as you can see he is just itching to aim her at the very top. imo.

He's sat back so far and allowed mullins to run her in the stayers when the whole reason she stayed hurdling last year was to see if she could run in the CH...and she deserved her place in it last year.....now they're still keeping her hurdling, with no apparent target for her in the top hurdle races.......how much better it would be if these horses were spread out a bit more amongst a few more trainers.

Duffy you must be a bit of a socialist! WM has the good horses for a reason - why would an owner give them to someone else

So they are given every chance to run in the races they should be,and not in those that suit trainers and jockey agendas

But give these horses to another trainer and will they be at the level they are at now? The answer is no. Why is the answer no? Because he is the best trainer around.

Completely disagree,plenty of decent trainers in Ireland,or even England!! End of the day they keep sending best horses to one trainer then we will miss out on seeing competitive races,or at least less competitive races anyway. Spread them around we get proper races with best horses clashing more often,and the horses get to reach their full potential running in the races suited to their strengths and not running in races just to avoid stable mates.

Loads of good trainers about. Would happily have a horse with De Bromhead or Colm Murphy as I would Willie Mullins and that's just in Ireland.

So you're a multi-millionaire. You walk into a car showroom and have narrowed it down to 3 choices. You can have the Ford (De Bromhead, Meade etc). You can have the Audi (Nicholls, Henderson, Jonjo etc) or you can have the Ferrari (Mullins).

Let's be realistic here, if you're the man with the horse and money do you put in the best hands possible or do you settle for 2nd best?

If anyone believes for one minute Rich Ricci doesn't get a say in where he wants his horses to run you are deluded. Of course Mullins will advise him what he thinks best. And yes that may come across as he would like to avoid another stable star but if you genuinely believe, for example, Vautour will sidestep the Arkle because Un De Sceaux is a potential runner please re-assess your sanity.

Just because the thought of Annie Power running in the Mares Hurdle does not appeal to many (myself included) doesn't mean she is valued any less by her trainer. We don't see her in training. If she was a Champion Hurdle horse she would have ran in it last year. Please don't hit me with "they didn't run her in the CH to avoid The Fly". Who's to say the reason she isn't going chasing is because she didn't school well? NO ONE KNOWS except Willie and connections.

Well Mullins has the best record as a trainer in Ireland in recent years, but I know there are plenty of trainers around capable of getting a horse to reach its full potential.
The way this is going in Ireland with Ricci sending all his horses to 1 trainer just aint good for the sport imo, in the fact that it affects the horses owned by others in his yard.
Thank god for JP and Gigginstown who recognise the qualities of other trainers and spread their horses about,at least then giving us some competition.
If I had enough money to buy a quality horse their is no way I would try and compete with Ricci and send it to Mullins,i would look elsewhere ensuring my horse had the best possible chance of fulfilling its potential and running in the races he should be.
No one in this world can tell me how good UDS is......even his jockey last season was saying he did not know!! And that's purely cos he was not declared for the races that would have told us. Different trainer he would now be exposed as to how good he is........and maybe would be a Churdle winner!!!!! Same can also be said about Annie Power who along with UDS wpuld have run in the Churdle imo, had it not been for the Fly.
I just don't like The politics of this yard at all,its my opinion,it harms my enjoyment of this great sport.

How do you know there is any politics in the yard buddeliea ?

Thought it was pretty clear.
What do you think?

Maybe its all a smokescreen with the long term plan being a huge Papillon style punt to bankrupt a few bookie chappies

It is clear to me that WM has been given carte blanche to make decisions on Riccis horses. You just have to look at how AP was campaigned last year running in mickey mouse races across the pond. And when she did run in Ireland they chose the Mares race over the much more valuable World Hurdle, which in hindsight she would have won in a hack canter. It's great to see wealthy owners willing to pour money into the game but when they aspire to only "win any race at Cheltenham" this is bad for spectators who, like buddeliea, appreciate competitive racing. JP on the other hand would have 20 runners in the top races if he could.

Massive conflict of interest in that yard with so many above average horses and it is only going to get worse. imo.

The folly of relying on one horse going into a championship race was exposed last year in the champion with The Fly.

The only politics that exist are between punters,if the owners of UN de sceaux are not happy with the way it's been campaigned they should move it,this season Ricci,gigginstown and wylies horses cannot avoid each other for long,ruby going to have to choose between a few,even though he doesn't ride for gigginstown,there is too many but the people that pay the bills continue to send him more horses,as I say it maybe isn't good for the sport but their doesn't look as though any of his owners are bothered,when jp mcmanus has 2 or more in a race with different trainers people complain about that.

There are a lot in the sport that aint bothered,thats a major part of the problem for me.
If you think jockey and trainer are not putting their own interests in front of the horses,thats your perrogative.
I think differently.
I personally would never complain about owner or trainer having any amount of horses in one race,just as long as each horse is there on merit. Better that way for competitiveness within the sport anyway.
We want the best horses in the best races and the right races,who owns or trains them really don't matter to me....watching a race with the right horses does.

Watching MTOY and Jezki in the Churdle was pretty good...would we have seen that had they been owned by Ricci,and trained by Mullins??

budd you sound to me like a chap who thinks the sport we like to punt on is perfectly straight in every way and there isn't a hint of it being bent in any way shape or form! I can assure you that racing is as bent as it has ever been, and this includes some of the biggest races we see on television!!

Let the cat out of the bag on that one but if you had the info i got last week about one (which has since ran and won which incidentally was not the info received) even before the 5 day decs and anyone in the world except connections new what was even going to be entered!!

Ok it don't happen quite so much at the very top as harder to disguise with the general public watching on terrestrial tv but i can assure you in my very honest and open opinion, it sure as he!! does!!!

Oh,ive been following this sport a long time STS,and I am well aware of a lot that goes on,believe me.

But all that does not mean I cannot want what I consider best for my enjoyment.

I genuinely feel that as long as Mullins has the best horses the sport will suffer as a spectacle.

SeaTheStars.
We all know racing is bent. Any sport that gambling is involved in will be.

That isn't the point being made here. The point is the best horses are not racing each other to please Mullins and Walsh.

I too believe there are plenty of trainers who who can produce horses to perform at the peak. Training is very over rated. It is a job. Some do it very well done do not. Like all walks of life.

That Ferrari comment is ridiculous.

*some* not done

HI guys,just want to add that if Annie ran in the champion hurdle she would get a half a stone weight allowance from the boys,also taking into account that she was entered as a runner for the race last year says Willies value of the horse is high on the list,but it seems that Willie is more hell bent on winning the champion hurdle with one of his other horses.but willie being willie nobody knows what is in his mind for ANNIE POWER but you can rest assured there is a big plan and Willie is saying nothing about it.its funny how they always smile broadly when asked a question about Annie the wonder horse.but make no mistake about her SHE IS FAST.

So vautour faugheen annie power champagne fever etc are only as good as they are because mullins is training them...fook me, spread a few of them about a bit more and you may get a trainer to teach faugheen to jump a hurdle or a trainer that can get his chasers jumping better.

Heard an interview with Patrick Mullins where he was asked about AP and whether running her in the mares was a cope out, simple reply, "the whole year is built up to Cheltenham, don't care what she's in as long as she wins."  We all would have love to seen QueVega go in either the CH or take on Big Bucks in WH, but history will show she won 6 races at the festival.  At the same time Big Bucks never ventured to Ireland to take her on over 3m.  Willie / owners are entitled to do whatever they like, and run in whatever they like, if we want more competitive racing go back to 3 days but ain't never going to happen.  As a punter having a double certainty in QV and BB was always a great fallback

Yep, we all know they are entitled to do what they want with their horses, that aint the point. The point is whether its good for the sport and the races we love to watch, I simply don't think it is.

Call me an old romantic,call me whatever you like......I really don't care, but I do care about NH racing and its future.

Agree with you Buddeliea, it's a joke at times, seeing Grade 1 novice chases been contested by 3-4 horses pre March. Biggest issue with NH is that everything is geared to Cheltenham, had a lively discussion with a chap once who told me that Beef or Salmon was a poor horse, as he never ran well at Cheltenham, although he won over a million euro!  The issue is not with the owners and trainers its with the decision to go 4 days and 27 races, if I was her owner would I go mares hurdle route or CH / chasing, part of me says CH / Chasing but honestly I'd want her to win at the festival

Given hindsight, I wonder if they wish they had gone CHurdle instead of Whurdle last season.
Had HFly not been about,i am pretty sure AP would have gone Churdle,and may have won.
As it is they won neither race.
Sometimes I think just put horses in the race they are best suited to,AP and UDS had both proved good enough to run well in a CH imo,neither ran and that imo is entirely down to them wanting HFly to win again.
Heck,if he was good enough he would have won anyway.
It all backfired on them,same in the Arkle and JLT with Cfever and Felix Yonger,none of them won either.
FY was proven all season at 2m,CF was not.Yet FY had to go JLT cos they wanted to win both races and the plan failed.

What we got to look forward to this season? I wager more of the same, and more and more as the years go by.

Think of the races we could have in Ireland if some of these horses were spread about,or they thought s0d it lets just put horses in races they should be in.....all of a sudden we have competitive Grade 1's giving the excitement and competition we crave, instead of 3 0r 4 runner affairs with short priced favs.
Yeh, I know, we can all dream!!!

Paterson92 • November 17, 2014 12:54 PM GMT
So you're a multi-millionaire. You walk into a car showroom and have narrowed it down to 3 choices. You can have the Ford (De Bromhead, Meade etc). You can have the Audi (Nicholls, Henderson, Jonjo etc) or you can have the Ferrari (Mullins).


That made me chuckle: Nicholls & Hendo are audis compared to Mullins the ferrari. Come back when he's won a gold cup or two..........

This whole spreading them all around suggestion so they can pick all the prizes up smacks of both naivity and arrogance and is typified by the earlier comments about Mullins being this, that and the other as far as training is concerned. There are quite a number of good trainers both in England and Ireland and guess what? They also target their best horses at the best races at Cheltenham. No trainer can just turn up and help himself to whatever he wants. It doesn't work like that. You get them ready and aim your best horses at their best races and then hope. Mullins made a bit of a horlicks of the champion hurdle last year.

UN de sceaux or Annie power wouldn't have been in the top 2 in the ch last year !

There are facts and conjecture. Your opinion is conjecture. It is a fact that The Fly wasn't in the first three. We will never know what would have happened with the other two but I certainly think Annie would have beaten The Fly and my own opinion is that she had a serious shot at winning.

you throw your best dart at the best race, that kinda tells me what I need to know reagards the CH with UDS and  AP

Yep,you would think so but trainers get it wrong sometimes,and had they put in Ap andUDS in the race.....who knows what would have happened.Fact is all season he was simply smashing all opposition over 2 miles(UDS)and was completely unexposed at the top level,and even had one bit of form that tied in with HF and favourably as well. AP with her form and weight allowance would certainly have been a major player.

People who state opinions as fact are usually losing punters. Hello Paterson 92.

I doubt very much Mullins could have done a better job with Sizing Europe. He is just in a fortunate position to get all the best horses. He is not in the same league as PFN.

A trainer I think who is hugely overrated on the other hand is Alan King. He seems to talk up a lot of his horses but not many deliver.

Not being in the same league as PFN as evidence but their big race records.

Look at the evidence properly before you wet ya pants about that one!

Sint he has got that many now he can't fail !

WM seems to get a lot of decent novice hurdlers,but I would like to know how many of these become top notch as their career progresses.
Nicholls and Henderson eg seem to not have so many decent novices as Mullins but a load more top chasers later on, and in the case of Hendo a lot more top notch hurdlers.
Well, that's how it seems to me, but I expect someone will come along and prove me wrong!!

Thinking about it a tad more.......Hendo has had a serious amount of real Churdle contenders in recent years,yet he seldom wins the Supreme or Neptune....Mullins on the other hand, aside from Hurricane Fly, has rarely figured in the Churdle,certainly if you compare that with the amount of supreme and Neptune horses hes had.
Hendo even managed to get Sprinter and Spirit Son beaten by Al Ferof,yey had they gone on to contest Churdles I am pretty sure they would have won the race,probaly more than once.

Will be very interesting to see how Faugheen progresses over the next few years.,

So you're a multi-millionaire. You walk into a car showroom and have narrowed it down to 3 choices. You can have the Ford (De Bromhead, Meade etc). You can have the Audi (Nicholls, Henderson, Jonjo etc) or you can have the Ferrari (Mullins).



I,ll have the audi TT MTM bimoto  please

Out until spring.

Just been reading about this

Possible stress fracture above the hock. Looking to be at least 8 weeks box rest.

They will no more after scans midweek.

Get well soon Annie Power x

Know *

Hope she's back on the track quickly. Shows that when you have a horse cherry ripe you need to go for the best races and there was absolutely no reason why she shouldn't have lined up in last years champion.

Better news on Annie Power

From Sporting Life..."The top-class mare was declared to make her reappearance in the Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse on Sunday, but was found to be lame on Friday and was immediately withdrawn from the Grade One contest.

The champion trainer feared the six-year-old could have suffered a possible stress fracture, which would have meant eight to 10 weeks box rest.

Mullins said: "Annie (Power) will walk until Christmas and be checked again and then hopefully be back to full training.

Profiles Annie Power
"(There is) no fracture. Just a stress reaction."

Owned by Rich Ricci, Annie Power lost her unbeaten record when second to More Of That in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, before bouncing back at Punchestown.

Mullins is hopeful she will return to Prestbury Park in March and has not ruled out giving her a prep run.

He said: "We hope to make it (to Cheltenham).

"If we can we will run before."

A Mullins mare having her first run of the season in the Mares hurdle? I'm sure I've heard of that before, but not sure what the result was

The Mares Hurdle is becoming one of my favourite races at the Festival.