Legendary Irish trainer Willie Mullins pulled off one of his biggest racing heists of all-time last weekend as his runner Ethical Diamond won the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar a Flat race.
Mullins’ right-hand man, David Casey, was the driving force behind the decision to run the Ebor winner at Del Mar and told BOYLE Sports that the team didn’t expect their horse to win the huge prize Stateside.
Casey watched the race in Australia, where he was with another Mullins runner, Aburde, before the Melbourne Cup, and revealed the celebrations after Ethical Diamond’s win weren’t quite as outrageous as you might have thought - but that could change back in Ireland.
Elsewhere the assistant trainer spoke about working with Willie Mullins and potential next moves ruling out a permanent switch to flat racing but says the Sheema Classic is a target.
US Racing
Ethical Diamond Decision
Basically, Willie just said after the Ebor to find a race for him. There was a Grade 3 at Ascot, but otherwise, there was obviously not much left at this time of the year for him. So I looked at the American race. I looked at the entries and the runners from the last couple of years, and he wasn't too far off the ratings of the horses that had finished in around fourth or fifth. I mentioned this to Willie and said, ‘Look, it might be a bit mad, but it's an option for him!’ Willie kind of said, ’Yeah, why not?’ He had never made it to Del Mar before, and that appealed to him.
You never know if we're ever going to have a Flat horse good enough to run at a meeting like that ever again. We probably didn’t expect him to win or anything like that, but it's all experience, and if we did ever have a horse good enough to go back then, at least you might learn something from the experience this year for the future. That was our thinking. He mentioned it to the owner, Margaret Heffernan and the H O S syndicate, and they all agreed it was a good idea. We set the balls in motion about two months ago.
Grass Horses in America: “Not As Good As Europe”
After the Ebor, his rating had gone up to 112, and I kind of thought there was a little bit more improvement there. I'm thinking about 115 maybe. I knew Rebel’s Romance would run in the race. He's won it the last two times, and he's rated 122 now. When he won it in the first year, he was only probably 114 and a 114 horse was fourth or fifth, I think last year and got a good cheque.
Grass horses in America aren't usually as good as the European horses and stayers, so I reckoned there was a chance that maybe he could be competitive to be in fourth or fifth, probably, which was as much as people were hoping for him. There were the likes of Rebel’s Romance, Minnie Hauk and Goliath who were probably the three standouts. We know he likes fast ground as well, and that obviously came into the thinking, too.
Dylan Browne McMonagle
No, he did his work before he left. Basically, he had a two-day quarantine out there, which is just walking, and from thereon, he's just had a canter each day to keep him fresh for the race. We knew he was fit as a flea as he'd been running all season. You're hoping, obviously, with the calibre of horse that was in the race, that it would be a good pace and, having spoken to Willie and spoken to Dylan [Browne McMonagle, jockey], we thought there'd be pace on the front end.
We felt if we took on the pace, we mightn’t be good enough to keep it going. But from our wide draw as well, drawing 14, we’d just take a chance to drop in and get him relaxed, and hopefully we'd have plenty left to come home in the straight, and that's the way it worked out.
No praise is high enough. He's a very, very good rider, and he's obviously been showing that even before this year.
He’s been riding on the crest of a wave this year, and he is now champion jockey. He’s a really nice kid as well, and he's very cool, very relaxed. Nothing seems to faze him, you know, so we were delighted to have him.
Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup Missed Opportunity
I'd imagine if he didn't have to screw it, he probably would have come for the Melbourne Cup.
After the Ebor, there's a bit of time before the end of the season. We just decided to have a look and see what was around, basically. The Breeders’ Cup was one we'd never been to before, so we thought, ‘let's try something new.’
Watching The Race From Melbourne Yard “Emotional”
It was about 9 am in Melbourne. We were in the yard, actually. We had just finished our work with Absurde, myself and Emily so we watched it in the canteen in the yard. So, there's myself, Emily Siegle and Paul and Steve, two lads that were over with Simon Crisford’s horses.
We were just watching the race, and then Emily, who looks after him and Absurde as well, was getting fairly emotional. She was getting fairly excited, the longer the race was going on. I was happy looking at the race, thinking he's travelling great, and it's looking good, and hopefully we could finish where we had hoped in the first four or five. But then off the bend you're getting a bit of a thrill, you know. The turn of foot he showed was pretty awesome, and from thereon, we cheered him home.
I suppose we never really expected to have a Flat horse good enough to compete in those sorts of races. So sometimes when you're not expecting it, it's a little bit more pleasurable. I'm sure everybody got a great thrill out of it. I went for lunch with a few people who came over for the Melbourne Cup from Ireland and a few locals. We had a couple of drinks!
Willie Mullins
Jumps To Flat Move? No!
My answer is probably going to be, ‘no.’ But that’s without talking to Willie. We're a jumping yard predominantly, and I think that's the way we will stay. But we always look to buy the type of horse that can make it into decent Flat horses if they don't make it as, say, a top-class champion hurdler or something like that. We've always kind of bought that horse, but I suppose Ethical Diamond was the one that stepped up to the plate. He had improved plenty on the Flat.
Willie’s Winning Reaction
A couple of my friends put up a few of the GIFs there. The fact that it was kind of so unexpected was probably a greater thrill for him. We only talked about it briefly, but I think he was pretty pleased. He just kind of smiled and laughed. I think he was a bit tired after the flight over.
Winning The Ebor
He had a decent enough rating from the Flat before we bought him, and last year, we ran him at Ascot, thinking he'd win, and he finished fourth after running very free. He got a bump coming out of the stalls, and he ran very keen. So, we didn't run him on the Flat again after and said we’d target Ascot again this year.
So we gave him a bit of a break and brought him back, and gave him a few runs over hurdles. He ran really well at Cheltenham in the County Hurdle. Then he went to Ayr and probably didn't jump as well [in the Scottish Champion Hurdle]. The going was slow on the day, and he definitely was better on faster ground. That led then to Ascot, where he won, and then from Ascot we went straight to Ebor.
Sheema Classic
$6m Sheema Classic Target
I'd imagine his hurdling career is on hold at the moment! A few people out here were congratulating us after the win in Del Mar. I said, ‘Yeah, it was great, a good prep for a Novice Chase at Christmas.’ That was tongue in cheek, of course. I think he's entered for Hong Kong in December, but it might come a little bit soon for him. I don't know whether Willie would want him to travel again so soon. Then you're looking at horses, races like Meydan next year, the Sheema Classic or something like that.
I'd imagine him back to America for Turf races over there, the Man O’ War Stakes and races like that. Meydan is in March, which we don't usually target horses for because it's Cheltenham time and we are flat out organising that. So, all those options are up for him now.
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