exceptional ride by danny
points to lossiemouth being ground dependent
around the inside , taking fresh ground as much as possible
townend knew danny would lead and got done on the bend

She jumped very badly, one particularly led to her losing her place, in the end Townend used her up trying to get to the winner before flattening out. It supports the concern that a stiff test on the new course won't suit her, must be a nightmare for Mullins sometimes, blood destiny and the winner yesterday look like stamina types to me and lossiemouth wanting a relative speed test. IMO.

TOWNEND has held his hands up
fair play to him


Duffy go and look at the race again, you talk utter nonsense
lossiemouth got over the third last easily and made no mistake
his stable mate came across him and cut him off at the fence then at the bend

even the commentator said he was impeded by one of willies

the other horse was going left
and cut her off


as for jumping badly  .....where ?

4th last she got in a bit close , no problem
others she pinged

thats the critical point after the third last where townend realises he aint gonna have enough room at the bend

you can see he pulls lossiemouth to the right , there's three in front of him all making for the rail at the same time

nothing to do with Lossiemouths jumping

agree

Theres no way she jumped badly , she took a bump off the bend as well

After that run i would agree there maybe a stamina issue
she was obviously ridden to get around
he was saving ground on her up the inside before the 3rd last
dont think she would get 2m.1f with the hill on a friday now
the other worry was the treatment she got
juvenile mares dont like the stick
she took a couple of tears there after the last
And didnt seem to respond
yet all the slapping and punching before the last
was getting a reaction
not good

Back from Dublin yesterday. Had a great weekend, lots of top people and really enjoyed the racing. Had a few winners so covered most of the expenses.
However, there were some major issues with the racecourse facilities. We were in owners and trainers on Saturday and the queues for drinks were nearly out the door. There were 3 bar staff trying to serve 200 people and the wait (if you could be bothered was well over hour to get served). This is the worst organised OT I’ve been in and was very disappointing for everyone with a runner at this Premier meeting. We went outside and found similar problems but you you could get a drink if you queued 10-15 mins in the tent. The second issue was the toilets. If you wanted the loo you had a 20-25 min wait to get in. We worked out if you started getting in line during a race and watched the final mile on your phone you could cut the wait to 10 mins.
To be honest it was a lot worse than Gold Cup day at Cheltenham. Let’s hope Leopardstown take on board the comments from race goers and employ more staff or restrict numbers….however that is never going to happen.

Sunday as much better as we were in the pavilion restaurant. I must admit that was fantastic and miles better than what Cheltenham offers in regards food quality, viewing and cost. There were about 800 people in there both days and had the best experience of the weekend.

All in all it was a great trip and we have already agreed we will go again next year. As long as tne pavillion is available both days.

Letter in racing post today from a Jerry wright

He must have gone to a different racecourse

one of the things that stick out for me now
is that Willie wasnt joking about the kickboards
i dont know if there is an Irish course with white kickboards
cheltenham has had them since October last year at least
all the Irish courses still have the orange kickboards at their fences
irish horses will not be used to this change at Cheltenham
the Authorities in the U K have obviously done this for safety reasons
and fair play to them
but why didnt the Irish authorities change there's as well ?

Why would the champion trainer need excuses ?
Its a perfectly valid point.
Racehorses are particularly fickle
Can see how the researchers reached their conclusion
....none of us know for definite how any racehorse would react

Mullins taking every precaution in search of Cheltenham whitewash

Last season’s Cheltenham Festival meeting was a Willie Mullins whitewash — and he is not leaving anything to chance in pursuit of something similar next week.

Having won a remarkable 10 races over the four days at Prestbury Park — taking his tally at the Festival to a record 88 winners — the Closutton handler revealed he has painted all the bars on his schooling fences and hurdles white.

White markings on the frames, guard rails and take-off boards replaced traditional orange colourings on obstacles at every British racecourse last year.

The British Horseracing Authority’s decision for the colour change, following guidance from experts at Exeter University into horse vision, came in the interests of horse welfare and safety.

In years past, Mullins has worked and schooled horses at Leopardstown prior to running at Cheltenham.

This year will be a little different, however. Speaking at the Dublin track to Racing TV on Sunday, he explained: “I don’t see much point in schooling here, if they all jump well


Unless someone comes round with a bucket of whitewash tomorrow and paints those fences, I don’t see much point in schooling over the orange bars.

“I’ve put in a whole new schooling operation with white hurdles and fences and we’ll do our stuff at home.”

Mullins is a stickler for details and knows that with competition so fierce at the Festival, every mistake is magnified.

He added: “Some horses could go down (and jump) over blue fences, yellow fences, it wouldn’t matter a damn to them — they are just that cool.

“Other horses will look at them from a half-mile out and they will see something different, so you never know which one, especially in the shorter races if you want to be up there and and have your position.

“You don’t want to have them looking at the first hurdle and backing off it or the first fence and backing off it, because you just lose your position and then at Cheltenham you are playing catch-up the whole time.



Whereas round the country tracks or not at the big meetings, it doesn’t matter so much, as you’ll get your ground back much easier — but at Cheltenham, no one gives you an inch.

“So what you lose at the first hurdle or fence, it’s gone, you are not going to get it back.”

Mullins said his powerful string has taken to the painted obstacles well and is looking forward to the meeting, which starts on Tuesday week.

“They are jumping them every second day at home, so we’re good.”

He added: “Fingers crossed, toes crossed, everything crossed. We are very happy with how most things are.

“You are always going to get little upsets, but we still have another week to go before we travel. Things will come right, but nothing major"