Drier ground suits Firm Footings

He's a grand horse and he probably wants further but he has a good attitude. He gallops and jumps. Jordan said he would have been an unlucky loser as he left his hind legs in the second last. The ground was very soft the last day but he ran well. He's run his race every day. I thought this might be a bit short for him but I needed to get a fourth run into him to qualify for the handicaps at Cheltenham.

Mullins' odds-on chance Lords it over rivals

He got his confidence back quickly after his fall at Christmas. He jumped high over the first few but then came down and started to hurdle. He met a few on the wrong stride but got over them, down the back, and then when Paul needed him he came up over the last three. The further he was going the better he was going and I'd imagine we'll go out in trip. He's in the Ballymore (16/1 from 50s with Paddy Power) and that would look a possible target. He's earmarked for that, I think he has enough ability to go for it and he showed today that he jumped well enough. It was unfortunate what happened at Christmas.

Hunters Yarn ready winner of Listed novice hurdle

He didn't jump as fluently as I was hoping he would but he showed a nice turn of foot. I think he is possibly Supreme Novice-bound if Simon and Isaac want to go there. I'm not sure that he stays, the couple of times we've tried him over longer trips he hasn't been up to it yet. I liked what I saw there, liked the turn of foot that he has, and he's going to make a very smart novice chaser, I think. He works very smartly at home and we just ran him over the wrong trip last year on his first run when Simon and Isaac were over in Ireland. That taught us a lesson to just keep him to the minimum trip for the time being. I think he's going to be way better over fences, he'll probably have more respect for bigger jumps because he's well able to jump.

Blazing Khal makes winning return in Navan feature

It's relief really with the young fella riding him and all. I thought he gave him a lovely ride and he settled grand for him,. He's definitely a very good horse. He was working well and doing a lot of work over the last few weeks. We did expect a big run, he was fairly straight. With him it's day by day but naturally we'll be thinking of Cheltenham, of course. We've had so many false dawns with him. It's just been little niggly problems. The timing is not too bad, I suppose. We would have preferred to have him out before now but it is what it is. We can go to Aintree if we don't make Cheltenham. He was fairly fit today but naturally with race fitness you'd hope he'd come on again. You always have the bounce factor and ideally you'd want a second run but it is what it is and we're delighted to get him back.

Wa Wa benefits from canny ride by Cooper

Grade 2 success for Sweeney & Coleman

That's great, he was good,. Aidan was very happy with him and said he jumped well. He said you couldn't say that he really missed the second last, he got in very tight but was away quick. He jumped very cleverly. I'll talk to the lads now and see but he's in the National Hunt Challenge at Cheltenham. We'll get over today and see how he is tomorrow. He maybe takes a little bit of time to warm up but the further he goes the better he seems to be. He's developing away, he's improving all the time. I'd imagine he could be a National horse in time. It's an old pedigree and I think he'll improve a lot. The last day Aidan rode him he said 'you probably won't have a horse until next year' because he's immature. He's eight but they are all different. I'm delighted for the owners, they are a great bunch of lads. They were getting a fair bit of money for him last year. He was vetted and was going, Tom (Hegarty) rang me one evening and asked what I thought and I said 'I'd have to sell him if he was mine' but they kept him anyway, which was great. They are gutsy men and good lads to work with.

Double for Charles & Philip Byrnes

He has been very consistent. Philip was a bit upset after getting unseated at Leopardstown and that makes up for it. He's inclined to come up very early, he's not great to go in and pop. He's inclined to stand off too much. It's either a feast or a famine, we haven't much for a while now. I don't think I've anything entered this week. He still has a mark over hurdles so he could go back over hurdles.

Firefox impressive in the bumper

He's good. We thought he was a fair horse and were disappointed that he got beaten in his bumper but he came on plenty from that. He's not going to be a horse until next year really. Whatever he does this year is only going to be a bonus. He obviously can't go to the Cheltenham bumper because he ran in a hurdle race. We'll probably go to Fairyhouse or Punchestown. We like him.