Mullins uncovers a pearl
Willie Mullins saddled the winner of the Weatherbys Champion Bumper for the fifth time when Missed That battled home by a neck to evoke memories of the great Florida Pearl at Cheltenham today.
Florida Pearl, who like Missed That was trained by Mullins and owned by Violet O’Leary, won this race in 1997 before embarking on a fabulous chasing career.
Missed That, who was backed into 7-2 favouritism, raced very keenly for Ruby Walsh before hitting the front over a furlong out, and it needed all the jockey’s considerable strength to get the six-year-old home from De Soto.
Mullins said: “Ruby said he thought the whole thing was over at the top of the hill because a horse can’t keep galloping and pulling and still win a race.
“We’ve thought a fair bit of this horse all along. He has the engine and we are delighted with him.”
When asked if he could be compared with Florida Pearl, Mullins said: “They are completely different temperaments. This one wouldn’t be as quiet as Florida Pearl, but he is going the right way now so we are very happy.
“He’s won his point-to-point, so he’s well able to jump. He’s just grown up in the past three or four months.
“We were worried when he hit the front that the crowd cheering might stop him because he’s a very nervous horse compared with Florida Pearl, but he just kept galloping to the line.
“Maybe we’ll make more use of him in the future. Good ground and a faster pace will really suit him and we are really looking forward to him going jumping.
“Whether he goes hurdling or chasing next season I don’t know. We’ll leave that decision until the summer.
“We might just go the same route as Florida Pearl and miss hurdles out completely.
“He’ll probably go to Punchestown now for the Championship Bumper.”
Walsh added: “He was very, very free and I was close to letting him go to the front halfway up the straight the first time.
“I honestly thought at the top of the hill that I couldn’t win, he’d been pulling so hard.
“Then he quickened up off the bend and he was brilliant all the way to the winning post.”
Six-time champion Flat jockey Kieren Fallon paid his first visit to the Festival to partner Refinement for Jonjo O’Neill, and the mare did well to finish fourth.
Fallon said: “She was a bit headstrong early on and I had to switch her off and we lost our position. She would have gone very close but for that. It was a rough race – these races always are, just like the Flat.”
When asked if it had been a good day, he added with a smile: “It would have been had we won.”
Nina Carberry, who won the last race 24 hours earlier, was brought down to earth with a bump when she was unseated from second favourite Karanja at the start.
The stewards inquired into the fall of The Mick Weston in mid-race, but did not apportion any blame. The gelding’s jockey Richard Johnson escaped unscathed.
Idole First stunned the massive crowd – and his trainer – when the gelding bounded up the hill to spring a 33-1 shock in the Coral Cup.
The result, which left the sponsors celebrating after a gamble went astray on Distant Prospect, was never in any doubt once Alan O’Keeffe unleashed Idole First with a powerful charge after touching down on the run-in a close third.
The Venetia Williams-trained six-year-old had appeared to be struggling two from home but O’Keeffe persevered and the gelding saw the two miles five furlongs out in great style to beat Dancing Bay by five lengths, with Tumbling Dice another six back in third.
Miss Williams said: “I’m stunned because it’s something you hope for for so long. We’ve been talking about Cheltenham for this horse for such a long time.
“He was a very good horse last year and he’s improved all the time. This is absolutely fantastic.”
O’Keeffe, 20, was enjoying his first Festival success and said: “That’s my biggest win. It’s good to get a chance on a good horse. When he started to motor he’s picked up like a really nice horse.
“I thought running over two miles he was always on his head and over two and a half he’d be a proper horse. He’ll make a really nice chaser.”
Distant Prospect was backed into 100-30 favourite but failed to sparkle and trailed in ninth under Tony McCoy.
David Stevens of Coral said: “It was a tremendous result, but if Distant Prospect had won it would have cost the bookies millions. He was the biggest gamble of the week – it takes a lot of money out there to shift a horse from an early-morning 6-1 down to 100-30.”
Leading owner Trevor Hemmings, who earlier in the afternoon had enjoyed his first winner at the Festival with Trabolgan, was back in the winner’s circle with Juveigneur (12-1) after the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup.
Like Trabolgan, Juveigneur is trained by Nicky Henderson, who also provided the runner-up in 50-1 shot Lord Of The River, who was beaten a length and a quarter. Parsons Legacy was third.
Winning rider Richard Burton was also breaking his Festival duck.
He said: “It’s unbelievable to ride a winner at the Festival – a childhood dream. I’ve done it and I’m chuffed to bits.”
Juveigneur was winning his first race over further than two and a half miles and Burton said: “I was mindful that he might not get the trip.
“I was always getting there a bit too early for my liking and just managed to get a breather into him at the top of the hill.”
There was a sad footnote as fourth home Persian Waters collapsed and died on his way back to the unsaddling enclosure.
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