Willie Mullins claims he can sleep on a bed of nails and admits to a recent intrusion of dreams about this day of destiny. Surely, though, his sleeping hours can never have conjured up the near perfection of what transpired.
Mullins did not just train all four grade one winners on Cheltenham’s sun-blessed opening day. That would be to understate the achievement. He won three of them as if it was preordained. In orderly procession, Douvan, Un de Sceaux and Faugheen dismissed the opposition without a false step, a fluffed jump or a single moment of doubt.
Race after race, Mullins stood in his long brown overcoat — a needless accessory on a day of unseasonal warmth — and accepted the acclaim with a humility that saves him from outright envy. Championship racing was not meant to be this simple and one man has not reduced the betting industry to a collective beg for mercy since Frankie Dettori rode all seven winners at Ascot in 1996.
By the time Annie Power approached the last in the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle with the command expected of a 1-2 shot, the bookmakers’ hoardings flanking the winning post were surely close to being lowered in silent mourning.
A spectacular fall, from which horse and jockey were thankfully unharmed, rescued the layers and ruined thousands of accumulator bets but it did not stop the Mullins bandwagon. Glens Melody, the stable second-string, hung on to take the race after a photograph.
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The one-dimensional nature of an unprecedented day extended further — the horses to get close to Mullins’s winners were others from his own yard in Co Carlow.
Shaneshill was second in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and then, in a power grab that would itself have been remarkable on any other day, the stable runners finished first, second and third in the Stan James Champion Hurdle.
Back in 1983, Michael Dickinson saddled the first five home in the Gold Cup but the equivalent hurdling crown has never been subject to such a monopolistic show. In concert with the narrative of an extraordinary day, it was a sight to make every rival trainer adopt an inferiority complex.
Ruby Walsh, having predictably chosen Faugheen of the Mullins’ trio, boldly set out to exploit the proven stamina of a horse that had begun his still unbeaten career in an Irish point-to-point over three miles.
Walsh set a sensible gallop, with Jezki and The New One following in his slipstream. The eight-strong field was still covered by barely six lengths at the top of the hill and Tony McCoy, seeking a championship victory to embellish his farewell Festival, engaged Jezki in battle with the leader at the second-last flight.
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It was a hopeless mismatch and McCoy later told Jessie Harrington, trainer of Jezki, that he “blamed himself” for the horse fading into fourth. Faugheen was remorseless, stretching away again and putting the race beyond dispute before his improving stablemate, Arctic Fire, narrowed the margin with a powerful finish.
With Hurricane Fly a gallant third, at the age of 11, Irish-trained horses filled the first four places. The New One, sent off second favourite, took no part in the finish and fifth place dismayed his trainer, Nigel Twiston-Davies. “He’s not blowing and I’ve no idea what the problem was but he didn’t seem himself,” he said.
Mullins was hugged emotionally by the winning owner, Rich Ricci, before saying: “Ruby told Rich in the parade ring he would make the running and win. It was a great ride from the front. In championship races, it’s always hard to get a front-runner and if you are brave enough to do it, why not?”
Walsh added: “He is definitely not slow and I was only going to go my own fractions in front. He’s got such a good turn of foot. This is probably the best feel I’ve ever had from him.”
In truth, the entire day was among the best feels Walsh can ever have had from this sport — at least until he hit the deck with sickening force from Annie Power’s calamity. One bookmaker had offered 10-1 against him drawing a first-day blank, when most jockeys are that price to ride a winner all week. Two front-running rides and one of infinite confidence on Douvan ensured it was never a factor.
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Walsh did later reveal that he had harboured fears for Douvan. “I was worried about him, I thought it was a strong race,” he said. Mullins had no such concerns and the trainer was right as Douvan stretched more than four lengths clear with emphatic ease.
“He is a horse of huge ability and I’ve been finding it hard even reading what I was saying about him,” Mullins said. “I’m pleased he has shown I wasn’t just hyping up a horse.”
Douvan, described as “raw and immature” by all concerned, is likely to go chasing next year, though Mullins was making no promises. “He looks every inch a chaser but I said that about Faugheen last year,” he said.
Un de Sceaux has already made the transition spectacularly well and won the Racing Post Arkle Chase with the authority, but none of the scares expected. Owned by the O’Connell family, who have just two horses in training compared to the dozens owned by Ricci, his jumping was flawless and, despite a heroic challenge from God’s Own, the result was never in doubt.