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.

Cheltenham Wed, 12th Mar, 2025  Bambino Fever I got a perfect position and I couldn’t believe it when I jumped off and got where I wanted to be, it normally doesn’t happen in that race. She always keeps trying and has a heart of gold and this is a special place for me now anyway. I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a child and have grown up watching Paul ride winners round here, but it’s my turn to be happy now. She had two runs and was very good both times and everyone was very keen to leave Jody on her, which was a great decision. She gave her a fabulous ride, she was in the right position at all stages and has a clock in her head. I didn’t say anything to her, I always leave her to ride her own races. Patrick couldn’t do the weight so was always going to ride Copacabana and connections were always happy to have Jody. I’m delighted for Jody. Tim Townend her father was here and of course Paul, her brother was. She’s been a surprise package, but is now unbeaten in three runs.

Cheltenham Wed, 12th Mar, 2025  Lecky Watson He has been improving all season and we just told Sean to take him a bit wider and keep out of trouble. He kept it very simple and it was an excellent ride. He hadn’t run over three miles previously this season, but that wasn’t any sort of plan. It was just a case of getting them out and running them and we always thought he was going to be a stamina horse. We had a good team of horses there and I’d have probably put him in fourth of our team. I thought Dancing City was travelling well until he made the mistake and I thought Quai De Bourbon was travelling really well when he unshipped his rider. I hadn’t been planning that (Gold Cup route), but we’ll have to go that way now. It’s amazing as you have to come to the races and turn up and find out. You can have all the dreams you want at home, but it’s out there that they’ll tell you what they’re really worth and this fella is obviously improving all the time. They’re all nice horses to look forward to next season.

Cheltenham Tue, 11th Mar, 2025  Lossiemouth As a trainer and as a professional I didn’t see the work (the other day) to run her in the Champion Hurdle, which disappointed me on the day, but we had the alternative to come here and that worked. You have to look at Rich Ricci’s team – he hasn’t had a great year this year and we all sort of gauge ourselves by Cheltenham. I’m not sure he has another live chance of a winner this week and she was a live chance of a winner in this race. It was disappointing to change our minds from a two-year plan, but it was the correct decision for the connections, I think. For these owners that we have, it’s all about coming here and having a winner, and Paul wasn’t going to ride this mare in the Champion Hurdle. When Paul said he wasn’t going to ride her in the Champion Hurdle, that was enough of a pointer for most people. I was happy with where our horses were placed in the race. Danny (Mullins) said he was going to make the running on Jade De Grugy, she ran a cracker as well and there’s more big days in her, too.

Cheltenham Tue, 11th Mar, 2025  Kopek Des Bordes I met his brother earlier and I said ‘I would love to win it for the O’Sullivan family’. We’ll enjoy it, we’re from County Cork, the O’Sullivans and myself, and it’s a wonderful occasion. Coming to the last Paul just said he was looking up at the stands, looking at the last and looking everywhere. He said he just lost concentration and missed it, but he picked up and galloped all the way to the Hunters Lodge. I think going a faster pace helps his jumping. He is able to go faster, we didn’t know that before Leopardstown, but we saw it then and again today. It’s nice to get the first one on the board, a huge relief. We have a good team today, we were hoping we would get one and hope for another one as well. To have it is a great relief.

Naas Sun, 9th Mar, 2025  Olympic Man Olympic Man isn’t becoming a good jumper but he’s getting good at being a bad jumper!. Even with his mistakes, he’s not losing ground and the only one really was when we were off-the-bridle going to the last where he lost a length. Once I galloped away from it, I always felt that I was picking Darragh (O’Keeffe on Foxy Girl) up. He was good and tough up the hill. I raced handily, but was trying to keep him even throughout: maybe in a staying handicap it won’t have as much pressure on his jumping.

Naas Sun, 9th Mar, 2025  Redemption Day He has the engine, but things probably haven’t gone right for him for a couple of seasons. Hopefully he can have a nice spring on the back of that. I couldn’t be happier, hopefully we’re as happy on Tuesday evening!. I won’t have a terribly busy week, but I’ve a lot of classy horses to ride and if we can get a good Tuesday it makes the rest of the week a bit shorter.

Gowran Park Sat, 8th Mar, 2025  Ksar Fatal He’s a nice horse by Buck’s Boum, sire of Al Boum Photo, and he has a similar type of trait. He gallops and jumps well at home,.

Navan Sat, 1st Mar, 2025  Champ Kiely he put in a good round of jumping and galloped to the line. Coming back to two miles wasn't any harm to him, so I'm very pleased with him. He could go to the WillowWarm Gold Cup (Grade 1) at Fairyhouse during Easter over 2m4f: that might be a better option for him (than Cheltenham).

Naas Sun, 23rd Feb, 2025  Kalix Delabarriere I’d say the hood helped him and I think being a Galiway, he’ll be better on better ground: he probably won despite the ground. We’re looking forward to getting him on nice ground. I’d imagine we’re looking towards Fairyhouse and Punchestown and whether we go for a novice race or a handicap we’ll have to see. We think he’s better than he’s looked on soft ground.

Fairyhouse Sat, 22nd Feb, 2025  Spindleberry She was very impressive for only her second run over fences, taking on an experience mare like Bioluminescence,. I'm very pleased. I loved the turn of foot she showed between the last two to put the race to bed and then under pressure to throw in a good jump at the last. For a mare with only one run over fences I thought it was a hell of a run in a Listed chase. We'll look at the WillowWarm Gold Cup, the Grade 1 for novices, here at Easter. She seems to like this track. She's entered at Cheltenham but that might just come a bit soon after today. We'll look for other options but the race here at Easter would look the race at this point in time. She loves this track over hurdles, and over fences, and I always like keeping a horse to where they like running. Paul was happy enough that she'd stay much further. That was a good test of stamina today. She had looked like a mare with a future and now she's showing us that she has a future.

Fairyhouse Sat, 22nd Feb, 2025  Nick Rockett I thought it was a nice performance, beating an Irish National winner in the process, and it was a nice trial for Aintree. I'm very pleased with him,. It was tough coming back from the Thyestes only four-and-a-bit weeks before. That was tough and should leave him spot on for Aintree. They were very tough conditions there and he'll probably take a little while to recover from that but he has the time. I was very impressed with how slick he jumped, his jumping was excellent. We aimed him for the Irish National last year but it didn't work. He's a horse I think has the potential to run well around Aintree. Bobbyjo winners have been lucky around there. We just need to get there and have a bit of luck in running.

Punchestown Thu, 20th Feb, 2025  Gameofinches He did what I was hoping he could do. His homework has been nice, he showed on the track what he had been showing me at home. I was very happy with the outcome and I’d imagine, if he recovers nicely from that race, he’ll go to the Cheltenham bumper. He’s a big horse and you never know how much it takes out of them until a week or ten days after the race. He seems to have a nice temperament, in the parade ring before the race and in the winner’s enclosure afterwards, so that all helps when you are travelling across the water. He looks a real chasing type. We’ll see what happens him next year, whether we’ll go over hurdles. He’s six now so we might go straight chasing with him, I’m not sure hurdling would do anything for his career, but they are discussions for another day with his connections.

Punchestown Thu, 20th Feb, 2025  Jade De Grugy It was a lovely run, it was a nice comeback to racing,. Annie Power won this race before winning the Champion Hurdle a few years ago and it has been won in the past by a mare (Black Tears) before winning the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham. She had worked nicely at home and I was very happy with her coming here. She showed me today what she had showed me at home. I think she’ll improve a fair bit for the race, which leaves us in a good position going to Cheltenham. I’ve no ground issues with her. Carrying the weight she carried today against nice opposition, I think is a good sign.

Punchestown Thu, 20th Feb, 2025  High Class Hero He did it nicely. The ground was quite testing as they had a lot of rain before racing. He’s in the Brown Advisory. He would look that type of an animal and we’ll probably head that direction. The other fella, Loughglynn, will probably stay at home and we’ll find something for him.

Gowran Park Sat, 15th Feb, 2025  Classic Getaway It was a good performance, he has been improving all season. Danny was very keen to stress that the three fences in the straight made a big difference to him because his jumping brought him into the race without any effort and then he had that final kick to go and win the race. It was nice for Cheveley Park to have a Red Mills winner.

Gowran Park Sat, 15th Feb, 2025  Kitzbuhel It was a nice performance. I loved the way he jumped, he’ll have no trouble going over fences,. I love the way he stayed on. It looked like the race was over after he had taken on Sir Gerhard and then he had to find again to take on Break My Soul. It’s the sign of a real good horse that he’s able to pick up a second time, which he did. I’m probably looking at Liverpool, more so than Cheltenham with him, with the timing of the race. The two and a half miles at Liverpool in the Aintree Hurdle would be a big possibility. That’s what I’m looking at at the moment. I think he’d love to step up in trip. I’d have no problem going three miles, but two and a half miles in Aintree might be more his thing at this point in his career. We’ll see what he does in his next two runs, but the way he jumped there, he looks like he has real potential as a novice chaser.

Gowran Park Sat, 15th Feb, 2025  Kitzbuhel It was a nice performance. I loved the way he jumped, he’ll have no trouble going over fences. I love the way he stayed on. It looked like the race was over after he had taken on Sir Gerhard and then he had to find again to take on Break My Soul. It’s the sign of a real good horse that he’s able to pick up a second time, which he did. I’m probably looking at Liverpool more so than Cheltenham with him, with the timing of the race. The two-and-a-half mile at Liverpool in the Aintree Hurdle would be a big possibility. That’s what I’m looking at at the moment. I think he’d love to step up in trip. I’d have no problem going three miles but two-and-a-half miles in Aintree might be more his thing at this point in his career. We’ll see what he does in his next two runs but the way he jumped there he looks like he has real potential as a novice chaser.

Gowran Park Sat, 15th Feb, 2025  Blue Lemons Being by Blue Point you would wonder if he would get home but I was impressed with the stamina he showed. For a horse off the Flat he was lovely and settled and jumped well. I thought he’d be way more buzzy but he settled well and did it all nicely and may take his chance in the Triumph.