17 Irish trained horses are among the 38 entered for this year's Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.

All bar three of the previous 17 runnings of the race have been won by Irish trained horses and Willie Mullins, with six previous wins in the contest, has entered four.

The Mullins' quartet are: Day Of A Lifetime, Bishopsfurze, Up Ou That and Lios A Choill. All four are unbeaten on the racecourse.

Dermot Weld has as expected entered his duo of recent bumper winners, Elegant Concorde and Hidden Universe.

Last weekend's impressive scorers Jetson and Shot From The Hip have also been entered along with Tavern Times, Forty Foot Tom, Drumbaloo, Sheer Genius, Shannon Spirit, Old McDonald, Old Charm, Frawley and Bubbly Bruce.

We have two runners in the 2m 4f handicap hurdle.

Sweet My Lord (David Casey) will be suited by the ground and the trip. This is his first run of the season and, while we expect him to run well, it looks like a very competitive handicap to start his season off in.

Pozyc (Paul) went up 8lbs for his narrow win over this trip in Listowel. He is in good form, however, and will like today's ground. We are hoping he will be invoved at the business end.

There'll be another day for Sweet My Lord

*Leopardstown

Thanks TWF - no idea on the Princess horse though

Just the 3 then tomorrow in THURLES

1.55 John Meagher Memorial S`chase (Listed) Cooldine (IRE)
Cooldine (2) , Roberto Goldback (5/2) , Joncol (11/4) , Psycho (8)  - Others  20 or more

2.25 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Beginners S`ch Twinlight (FR)
Twinlight (32/19) , Grey Soldier (11/5) , Cass Bligh (28/5) , Headford Flyer (36/5)  - Others  37/5 or more

4.25 Toboradora INH Flat Race Morning Royalty (IRE)
Morning Royalty (13/17) , Aves (33/10) , Wolf Hall (41/10) , Too Scoops (6)  - Others  7 or more

dj876 02 Nov 11 22:44
This is the time of the year to take on Willie Mullins horses one winner from the last 14 days (all be it a lot of them placed)
1.55 -Cooldine- yet to win in 9 races since rsa victory in 2009,even with wind op and in receipt of weight can't be having him @3.2
2.25-Twinlight-Looked very limited to me over hurdles-surprised if he gets around.joke price @3.0
4.25 -Morning Royale-Good run on good ground at punch in may,different ball game tomorrow in soft ground ,happy to lay him at odds on against opposition from respescted stables.

dj, wd today (2,f,3).

A BUSY WEEKEND AGAIN (off to a good start tooooooooooo !).....

Punchestown today
12.35 New Banks Course Risk Of Thunder S`chase Scotsirish (IRE)
1.05 Punchestown For Value Beginners S`chase Raptor (FR)& Skorcher (IRE)
2.35 Stable Staff Soccer International MdnHdl Midnight Game (GB) for Giggs !


Sun, 20th  Punchestown
12.40 Paul Carberry Autobiography H`dle So Young (FR)
2.10 Ladbrokes.com Morgiana H`dle (Grade 1) Thousand Stars (FR) at 9/4.
2.40 I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF M`dn H`dle Not For Converting (IRE) - won this race a few times in the recent past.
3.10 Ladbrokes.com Mobile App H`cap H`dle (Rated 0-140) Dare To Doubt (GB) with Ruby & Strain Of Fame (IRE)
3.40 **** Grainger Memorial(P-A)INH Flat Race Make Your Mark (IRE) for Giggs again and expect him to win this, one of the more important bumpers in the season.


Sun, 20th Cork
12.55 I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF M`dn H`dle Avoca King (IRE) with Townend up against Ballysteen.
1.25 Follow Us On Facebook H`dle Kempes (IRE) with Casey on board.
1.55 corkracecourse.ie H`cap H`dle (Grade C) Sweet My Lord (FR) & Pozyc (FR) his two against the Nama boyos.
2.25 www.racinghomeforeaster.com M`dn H`dle Felix Yonger (IRE) with Townend for the Wylies.
3.25 I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Beg S`chase Up The Beat (GB) with nephew Emmet on his 2nd ride of the day.

Any shop specials on Mullins's 5 fav's in Punchestown ?

What's was the return on a 1e/w (62euro) Lucky 31 (sp prices)

MAKE YOUR MARK
Willie Mullins said afterwards:
"He is a real professional racehorse. He doesn’t do anything too exciting at home. I’d say he is an out-and-out stayer and he will probably go straight over hurdles now."

Young Patrick said to Paul McNulty in the Sunday Mail that it was catching the eye on the gallops.
Plenty of racecourse chat for it on the course that it was my text to the lads in the pub with the words " Mullins past the post in the last " Normally i wouldn't be so bullish with my comments.

Different Day – Same Brilliance (Brian O'Connor's Blog - for some that may have missed it)

The evidence of Willie Mullins’s continuing dominance in the jumps game can be gauged by the almost routine reaction to a superb Punchestown four-timer which included Thousand Stars’ Morgiana success: Nothing remarkable – same story, different day. But the champion trainer really is taking this dominance to new levels.
That four-timer took the Mullins tally to nineteen winners from thirty eight runners in the last ten days – a fifty per cent strike rate. But his last twenty two runners have produced a remarkable thirteen winners and that includes an unplaced flat runner at Dundalk.

They’re the sort of figures that must make Mullins’s National Hunt competitors despair and have quite a few of their flat colleagues counting their blessings that Mullins doesn’t devote more of his time and energy to the summer game.

There are bits of evidence, such as Sesenta’s Ebor victory, that suggests the champion jumps trainer is more than capable of moulding talent for the flat given decent material and it’s not so long ago that Mullins was quoted as saying he would love the opportunity to handle a real top-flight flat horse.

It’s still intriguing to think what Hurricane Fly might do in a race like the Irish Leger. Decent on the flat in France, he now looks to possess the sort of pace and stamina that would make him at least a Group 2 standard animal if switched back. Of course, it’s purely hypothetical given the lucrative opportunities Hurricane Fly has at his mercy over jumps. And the same comment probably applies to his trainer. But still, it’s fun to ponder.

As one of those who reckoned a leisurely retirement paddock was the logical next stop for Kauto Star after last season’s Punchestown flop, this corner is dutifully tucking into some sizable quantities of crow following that magnificent Haydock defeat of Long Run.

Being wrong has rarely felt so right. In sports terms there are few things more heart-warming than an old hero coming back for a last crack at glory and achieving it. Kauto Star, the best chaser seen in decades, managed that in spades. The real intriguing part of this win though was how utterly decisive his performance was. And with typical greed the obvious next question is can he do it again?

Since this corner’s opinion on Kauto Star is obviously discredited already, there’s really little to lose in pointing out how in the past the great horse has sometimes followed up a dominant performance with a comparatively below-par one.

Messrs Nicholls and Walsh both pointed out how Kauto Star was as fit as flea for Haydock and although the horse won decisively, by definition he had to have had a hard race. So with that in mind, might there be an argument to suggest skipping the King George and building him up again for what really would be a magnificent last hurrah in the Gold Cup? It’s just a thought.

Sous Les Cieux top prospect, not so what distance as appeared to have plenty of speed in maiden hurdle win.

tinkler 21 Dec 11 19:56 on HF
Whether he's doing it to scare away the oppostion for his other runner or to get a better price so he can get a bet on 1,000 stars or just being plain awkward, it leaves a bad taste and does nothing to promote racing.

Couple of interesting entries at Leopardstown next week - Champagne Fever an easy winner of his sole P2P start and Ballycasey is a horse who impressed me as a likely decent 3m+ Chaser if they give him the time he needs when contesting 3 points last season. 

Imagine the former will be a short priced fav and probably win and the latter short enough but worth taking on over the shorter trip.

Catch Me ifyoucan 29 Dec 09 16:19 Plenty more to come, Quinfromcloonbunny is still in hiding

Not in hiding any more (although C A McBratney is now in charge at 3.00 on Sat)





Still no sign of Florida Pal for Patrick's  won on, for his "college buddies" in maynooth ???

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(((((((600 WINNERS)))))))
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PATRICK MULLINS confirms it was his 600th career race riding winner saying, "Just another 400 to go!
.....I'm level with Ted Walsh on 11 Amateur Titles, so it would be nice to add to that.
My best total in a calendar year was 74 winners in 2012, which beat the previous best by Billy Parkinson (72 wins in 1915)."

Congratulations to Patrick Mullins for riding his 600th winner on that giant of a horse The Big Getaway, a smooth bumper winner in Punchestown this afternoon and an effortless victory for WMP & Mrs J Donnelly.

I'd be guessing about 500 at least ?