2022 Festival - Willie Mullins vs Paul Nicholls

At least Nicholl's managed to save himself from getting his ar5e kicked by the williams horse.

Its a shame that you highlight this cash
You are right though
Nichols and Henderson are being shown up
Some will lose interest because they cant take their beating
Others will moan and complain about it

In reality the festival has been oversold and overhyped
It will go the same way as the Epsom Derby, the FA Cup Final and Wimbledon tennis, over hyped, over priced and consequently less popular

Bit unfair on Hendo he had 19 runners with 2 winners and 5 2nds including a 1-2,i think G Elliott will be the one who is most dissapointed.

I created the thread to highlight the staggering gulf that appears to exist between Ireland and GB’s respective champion trainers at this moment in time.

(The point has also been well made on the main horse racing forum.)

It is inconceivable to imagine a GB champion trainer having more winners at the Punchestown Festival than the leading Irish trainer having runners at the same meeting.

It's also inconceivable that a "champion" jockey would much sooner frequent gaff tracks during the biggest week of the whole year but that's the case.

As @CROPSICK says, it is surely Gordon Elliott who will be most disappointed. Yes, he had two winners but no fewer than eleven pulled up. Is there a bug in the barn? He is no Sneezy Foster, that's for sure.

Figures from the Racing Post Chris Cook email thingy:-
Willie Mullins: 63 runners; 10 wins; 2 pulled-up.
Gordon Elliott: 60 runners; 2 wins; 11 pulled up.

It is a strange turn of events, for sure. But understandable on Nicholls' part - why run horses at Cheltenham that might place when he can win valuable races with them at Aintree/Ayr/Sandown?

I think the more striking statistic is actually Willie Mullins 10 - Great Britain 10. The man is probably the best racehorse trainer in the world, but even so.

Spot on strontium
Its not good for the sport
A healthier british sport is what is needed
And it all points to incompetence from the BHA
It took years to overcome D K Weld at Galway
Monopoly is not helpful

Something else that's striking, and ought to really concern the BHA, is how many of the Irish-trained winners have British (or British-based) owners -

Ronnie Bartlett (Stattler), Rich Ricci, Kenny Alexander (Honeysuckle), Chieveley Park, Malcolm Denmark (The Nice Guy).

I wonder what the reason for Thyme White under performing yesterday was, perhaps he needed softer ground