Aintree Thu, 3rd Apr, 2025  Murcia I wouldn’t be worried if I was Dan, he seems to have the thing fairly solid at the moment. I can’t see us winning it unless we win the Grand National and Dan has a complete flop, which doesn’t happen. We had an extraordinary year last year and we’re a lot more behind this year.

Aintree Thu, 3rd Apr, 2025  Murcia I was disappointed for Michael (Buckley, owner), Nicky and Nico and the connections of Constitution Hill – and for racing. We came here knowing our mare was in good shape and we thought the (two-and-a-half-mile) trip would suit us this time (rather than two miles at Kempton), but we never got to find out. When Paul made his move it has eventually paid off, but I was wondering had he done it too soon. Nico has a great habit of looking like he is under pressure and then finding another bit in the last furlong. A couple of times we’ve thought we had Nico beat and he’s actually got a little bit up his sleeve, so I did wonder if Paul had played his cards too early, but it was gifted to him so what could he do.

Downpatrick Sun, 30th Mar, 2025  Toad Hall It is not before his time to win. It has just been niggles here and there, nothing major, but that's the way with horses. I think this fella will have one more run over hurdles possibly, and then in the new season head over fences. He looks a fine chasing-type.

Limerick Sun, 23rd Mar, 2025  Fun Fun Fun It has taken us a long time to figure out her best trip as over hurdles she was running too keen and doing too much. With more jumps, she gets a chance to breathe and is just so quick at her fences. We didn’t want to go to Cheltenham this year after her run in Exeter, but we drew a line through that. Maybe the Willow Warm Gold Cup (at Fairyhouse) could suit and I’d say we’ll be working backwards from the Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham next year with her.

Limerick Sun, 23rd Mar, 2025  Fun Fun Fun It has taken us a long time to figure out her best trip as over hurdles she was running too keen and doing too much. With more jumps, she gets a chance to breathe and is just so quick at her fences. We didn't want to go to Cheltenham this year after her run in Exeter but we drew a line through that. Maybe the Willow Warm Gold Cup (at Fairyhouse) could suit and I'd say we'll be working backwards from the Mares' Chase at Cheltenham next year with her.

Cheltenham Fri, 14th Mar, 2025  Jasmin De Vaux We’ve done a lot of schooling with him and he’s just so unnatural jumping and Paul said he made a mess of the third-last, but he jumped the last two well when we wanted. We know he has an engine and it’s just about getting him from A to B, and going that bit slower over a longer trip has made the difference – he might jump his fences better than hurdles next year and we might go novice chasing with him. Most of our Champion Bumper winners have been stayers and on his pedigree and class it was worth worth trying the longer race. It probably took me by surprise how well he has come through the field and seeing him sat last there, I was wondering could he come from that far back? But Paul gave him a very confident ride and the frame of mind he is in at the moment, he just makes things happen. Once he got over the third-last I felt confident and definitely after the second-last I felt it was his to lose, but then again that last flight of hurdles, with probably one of the worst jumpers in racing, I guess there was always something to worry about. I thought for half a second when he landed over the last he might have thrown it away, but he did enough up the hill anyway.

Cheltenham Fri, 14th Mar, 2025  Dinoblue She ran a great race last year, it didn’t work out for her then and today it did work out for her. I’m sorry for Allegorie De Vassy, she’s run a cracker of a race. She was jumping too big and would have preferred a bit of company up front with her, I think.

Cheltenham Fri, 14th Mar, 2025  Kargese We felt she was strong and this generation were well handicapped, so that’s why we took a chance and came here. We’ve had three of the first four so we may have got that right. She was too keen at Ascot but I needed to get a run into her and it’s very hard to come here without a run. All last season I knew I wouldn’t want her for the autumn and we’d give her a chance in the spring. She is so hard on herself in her racing, so we said we’d concentrate on this time of year. She will go over a longer trip in time but for now she would be too hard on herself and the jockey. We’ll celebrate here today and then decide. Normally I go to Punchestown but I might have a look to see if there is something for her in either Aintree or Ayr.

Cheltenham Fri, 14th Mar, 2025  Poniros He’s by Golden Horn and I think he’s going to make a very good sire. He’s the sort of horse you’re looking for, but I didn’t expect that. We were hoping he’d run well and be a nice horse for next year, so he’s ahead of schedule. We bought him in October, we just schooled him and then gave him a break. We thought we’d better drag him in from the field and get him ready for Cheltenham, so that’s what we did, but I didn’t expect any more than a nice run. We’d a lot of horses in the race and they all came here with the same plan and I couldn’t believe it when I saw him flying through.

Cheltenham Thu, 13th Mar, 2025  Fact To File It was a hell of a field and he won very easily, he’s a proper horse. They went a good gallop and he just stayed with them and got his jumping right and coming off the bend I don’t think Mark was worried, he just needed to get over the last two fences and he did that well. It’s a surprise the manner he has won it and I was hoping coming here he was good enough to win it and he would win it, but when you’ve got Il Est Francais and Protektorat in the field, they are good horses and horses of a lifetime for some people. He was able to beat them like that, which is huge. Every day of the week, I think he would be the one to give Galopin Des Champs the biggest problems, I do, and he was in the Gold Cup but we felt it was better to bide our options and let him come to this race. He could be a Gold Cup horse next year and he will be a year older, we just felt at this stage of his career, a hard race in the Gold Cup if it turned up soft is not what he wants. That was the way our thinking was all season and JP was very pro that, we just didn’t want him to have a hard race in a Gold Cup, as sometimes that can ruin a horse’s career. I’m not going to talk about two-year plans after Lossiemouth, but I imagine that’s where he will be going next year.

Thu, 13th Mar, 2025  Fact To File It was a hell of a field and he won very easily, he’s a proper horse. They went a good gallop and he just stayed with them and got his jumping right and coming off the bend I don’t think Mark was worried, he just needed to get over the last two fences and he did that well. It’s a surprise the manner he has won it and I was hoping coming here he was good enough to win it and he would win it, but when you’ve got Il Est Francais and Protektorat in the field, they are good horses and horses of a lifetime for some people. He was able to beat them like that, which is huge. Every day of the week, I think he would be the one to give Galopin Des Champs the biggest problems, I do, and he was in the Gold Cup but we felt it was better to bide our options and let him come to this race. He could be a Gold Cup horse next year and he will be a year older, we just felt at this stage of his career, a hard race in the Gold Cup if it turned up soft is not what he wants. That was the way our thinking was all season and JP was very pro that, we just didn’t want him to have a hard race in a Gold Cup, as sometimes that can ruin a horse’s career. I’m not going to talk about two-year plans after Lossiemouth, but I imagine that’s where he will be going next year.