"Lossiemouth did everything I wanted her to do' - Mulluins
Paul Townend onboard Lossiemouth comes home to win Bar One Racing Hatton's Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse on Sunday Photo: ©INPHO/Tom Maher
It was another successful weekend for Ireland and Britain champion trainer Willie Mullins as some of his big guns showed up in a big way at the Fairyhouse Winter Festival.
The standout was Lossiemouth, making her seasonal return and was a superb winner of the Grade One Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, beating defending champion Teahupoo in the process and all eyes are now set on the Champion Hurdle for the superstar mare.
Another who caught the eye was Anzadam, winner of the Grade Three WillowWarm Hurdle, defying an absence of 400 days to hose up to a six-and-a-half-length success, while Tounsivator was another eye-catcher when beating four of his stablemates to land the Royal Bond.
Speaking to Racing TV Free Bet Offers, Mullins gave a debrief of those three runners and admitted he may have to send Anzadam to Britain for his next race:
With the pace of the race, she did what I hoped she would do. The only thing was the fourth last but looking at the first mile and a half, it was only a matter of jumping home. Anyone looking at her thought she would have more speed than her opposition.
I hope all of ours will improve and, you know, she has done everything right in her career. We were always going for the Champion Hurdle this year and she is on course for that, unless something happens untoward over Christmas or around the Dublin Racing Festival, depending on where she goes. She has a choice of engagements.
She travelled last year twice before Cheltenham and she's a lovely mare,e takes the racing in her stride. She could be another Annie Power, they both had a flat pedigree and that's where she gets her speed.
Lossiemouth is a 7/4 favourite for the Champion Hurdle with BoyleSports, who will be offering the latest Leopardstown odds later this month.
He could be anything, I wanted to aim him for the Triumph Hurdle last year but couldn't get it right. I'd say he's half-right now, because of his troubles last year. I just wanted to get him on the track and he blew me away.
He’s four so he has to take on Grade One horses so I have to think where I can avoid State Man or Lossiemouth, I might have to look at England but it will be difficult to place him.
We had four or five runners in the race and I felt any one of them could win given the type of race.
What I really liked was that Aubrey McMahon bought the horse for very handy money and is flying.
