CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL:LAST WEEK Patrick Mullins finished his mock Leaving Cert exams at Clongowes Wood. Yesterday the 18-year-old had his first win at Cheltenham, riding Cousin Vinny in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper. Alison Healyreports.
"If I get a better day, I'll be a very lucky person," the elated jockey said. "Unreal, I've never had anything like it before." He is the leading amateur jockey, so winning is nothing new to him but "I'd swap this one for all the rest".
The Mullins name is synonymous with the Bumper as his father Willie won the race as an amateur and went on to train numerous winners. But watching his young son ride to victory on a horse he trained was "definitely" Willie's Cheltenham highlight.
"The best win I ever had in Cheltenham, just to see him turning in with a chance I couldn't wish for anything more," the trainer said afterwards. But his thoughts are also on the exams. "He's doing a lot of riding, studying in the car on his way up to the races and back," he said.
The win was particularly special for Cousin Vinny's owners, the 12-person Festival Syndicate, from Donegal. Fighting back tears, Michael Kennedy from Castlefin said his father, Jack, had bought a share in the horse but died in January before he could see him running. "My Da would have loved to have been there," he said. Another Irish syndicate, the Queen Maeve Racing Club, came second. Frenchpark, Roscommon, was deserted when the 35 members left en masse to watch their horse, Corskeagh Royale. Some 138 chartered a plane from Knock. "We said one or two prayers in Knock when we were flying over," said a disappointed Enda Tully. "But a lot of people would love to be in our position."
There was a minor explosion of photographers' flash bulbs in the winners' enclosure earlier when the queen's granddaughter, Zara Philips, turned up with boyfriend, rugby player Mike Tindall. She said Tony McCoy's victory in the Royal and Sun Alliance Chase was "fantastic". "He's been off with a really bad injury so it's great to see him in winning form," she said, after hugging the jockey's wife Chanelle.
McCoy broke his back in January and was only cleared to ride at the festival last week. "I'm thrilled," Chanelle said. "This win will mean an awful lot to him."
A win for Mossbank would have meant a lot to Ryanair's Michael O'Leary in the Ryanair-sponsored chase. He had promised to give away one million free flights if he won. "Which means obviously we don't expect him to win," he said. "I'll get some bloody shock if he does." The horse, which O'Leary had not backed because of the short odds, came second but Ryanair said it would still give away the seats because the airline had probably jinxed the horse.
Cold Feet star James Nesbitt doesn't need free flights. Nesbitt's horse, Riverside Theatre, is trained by Nicky Henderson and he hopes to see him running in Cheltenham next year. Having a racehorse was "exhilarating, much more nerve-wracking then any acting," Nesbitt said. But it's also expensive.
"I'll have to do a few voiceovers to pay for him. It doesn't come cheap." Unlike the Ryanair flights.