Notable Winners: Asian Maze, Chelsea Harbour, Court Leader, New Field, Liberman
Principal Jockeys: Ruby Walsh, Robert Power
When Thomas Mullins took out his public training licence in February 2004, there was a certain amount of expectation surrounding his career as the yard that he occupies in Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny has a rich history in Irish racing. For over 50 years, Tom’s father, the legendary Hall of Fame trainer Paddy Mullins plied his trade from the same Doninga Stables, winning a number of the biggest races in Europe both on the flat and over jumps.
Paddy Mullins’s first winner was Flash Parade in the La Touche Memorial Cup at Punchestown on April 29, 1953 but his name and career will forever be associated with one of the most popular mares in the history of National Hunt racing, Dawn Run. In 1986 she became the only horse in history to win both the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the latter win has gone down as one of the greatest races of all time and holds a special place in the hearts of Irish racing fans. In more recent times, Mullins gained his only Classic win at the ripe old age of 84 when Vintage Tipple prevailed in the 2003 Irish Oaks under Frankie Dettori. The win prompted a rousing reception for him in the winner’s enclosure that could only be compared to that which greets an Irish winner at the Cheltenham Festival.
With such big boots to fill, not to mention the fact that his two brothers Tony and Willie are already well established in the training ranks, Tom Mullins would be forgiven for feeling the pressure to a certain extent. He comments: “Of course there was a bit of expectation and pressure there, but I was never going to do anything else other than train so I had to get on with it regardless. I had done the course in the National Stud in 1982 and spent some time in America after that. When I got home I rode as an amateur for the better part of ten years and I was assistant trainer to my father up until a couple of years ago, so I felt the time had come for me to take out a licence of my own”.
He evidently learned a great deal from both his father and his brothers as he wasted little time in making an impact in his training career. Prominent English owner David Johnston entrusted Mullins to take temporary charge of his Cheltenham Champion Bumper winner, Liberman, who was proving a disappointment over hurdles in England. In less than six weeks, Mullins transformed the fortunes of the horse, winning a flat maiden in Tramore under Ruby Walsh before giving Mullins the biggest win of his short training career with a win in the Listed Brandon Hotel Handicap Hurdle in Tralee. Mullins comments: “Getting Liberman back was a nice boost to the yard alright. I knew him well from the time he was trained by my father and winning that decent race in Tralee came at the right time with me having just started out”. Liberman soon returned to the Martin Pipe yard where he showed the benefit of his spell with Tom Mullins to win twice over hurdles in the following months.
Since taking out his license he has maintained a consistent success rate, gaining 15 wins in 2004/2005 and 12 wins in 2005/2006 under National Hunt rules in addition to a further 6 wins coming his way on the flat. Following on from his fathers association with high class fillies and mares, Tom has done an admirable job in training his immensely talented stable star, Asian Maze.
Paddy Mullins took charge of the mare in the early stages of her career but he had to wait until her ninth start before she got her head in front in a Punchestown maiden hurdle in October 2004. However, it was worth the wait as this would prove to be the start of a productive period for the mare. She won her next three starts including two Listed events before meeting with a defeat at the hands of Washington Lad in the Grade 3 Golden Cygnet Novice Hurdle in January 2005.
It was soon after this win that Paddy Mullins retired from the training ranks and the promising young mare was transferred to the care of Tom. She made the perfect start for him when winning the Grade 3 EBF Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final at Fairyhouse in immensely impressive fashion. It was after this that Mullins made the decision to step her up to the highest level in the Grade 1 Sefton Novice Hurdle at the Aintree Grand National Festival a fortnight later. She proved more than up to the task with an authoritative win over Brewster, thus launching her on to the international hurdling scene. She topped off her lucrative season with an impressive win in the Grade 1 Menolly Homes Champion Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival and she went into the summer months with her connections dreaming of Cheltenham success the following March.
However, she took much longer than expected to come to hand in the 2005/2006 season and she didn’t appear on the racecourse until the Grade 2 Red Mills Trial Hurdle in mid-February. Macs Joy set a formidable standard in that contest but Asian Maze, who badly needed the run, ran a race full of promise to finish second to Jessie Harrington’s charge. This run prompted a prolonged debate concerning which race she should contest at the Cheltenham Festival, the Champion Hurdle or the World Hurdle. Her connections eventually came down on the side of the Champion Hurdle but things went against the mare on the day as she fell for the only time in her career at the fourth obstacle. This led many people to question the decision to run her in that race rather than the World Hurdle but her connections felt vindicated to an extent when she was next seen in Aintree the following month.
The Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle looked to be a vintage renewal with the dual Champion Hurdle winner Hardy Eustace, the winner of the 2005 renewal of the race Al Eile, and the runaway Coral Cup winner Sky’s The Limit all taking their place in the line-up. However, Tom Mullins’s gallant mare saw them all off one-by-one from the front and ran right away from the field to gain a famous 17 length victory. This win very much thrust her to the top rungs of the top class hurdling ladder. Mullins then opted to skip the ACC Banks Champion Hurdle in preference for the Champion Stayers’ Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival but following her easy win in that contest, both he and Ruby Walsh made it clear that they considered her more of a two miler and she would be campaigned accordingly the following season.
Her seasonal re-appearance in the Maplewood Developments Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown in November 2006 oozed promise, as she finished a game second to the race fit Iktitaf with Brave Inca a long way back. Afterwards, Mullins commented: “She wouldn’t have needed the run as much as she did in Gowran Park last season, but she definitely will improve on it”. Asian Maze then started a strongly fancied favourite in the Grade 1 Ballymore Properties Hatton’s Grace Hurdle in December, but faded to finish a disappointing fourth behind Brave Inca, with the very heavy ground being blamed for her below par effort. A subsequent staying on sixth in the AIG Europe Irish Champion Hurdle hinted at a return to form and better ground should see this wonderful mare back to her best.
The stable has been enjoying other successes over the winter, most notably with the improving novice Chelsea Harbour, who landed the Grade 2 Woodlands Park 100 Club Novice Chase at Naas in January 2007, while New Field has run well to be placed in big handicap hurdles in both Britain and Ireland, so there is much to look forward to in the years ahead.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland – Updated February 2007
