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Mullins eased for trainers' title after Saturday reverses

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Willie Mullins - Cheltenham - 12/3/2012

Willie Mullins: off the mark with his four British runners on Saturday

  PICTURE: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)  

 By Keith Melrose 6:32PM 30 JAN 2016 

AFTER weeks of uninterrupted dominance on both sides of the Irish Sea, the Willie Mullins bangwagon came to a halt in Britain on Saturday, leading bookies to move away from some of the more outlandish targets mooted for Ireland’s champion trainer at the Cheltenham Festival.

Shaneshill, Morning Run and Up For Review at Doncaster, as well as erstwhile Gold Cup favourite Djakadam at Cheltenham, all failed to deliver what was expected of them on a day in which British trainers struck back against the previously irresistible forces from County Carlow.

After racing, Coral announced that Mullins was now 7-4 (from 3-1) to train fewer than six winners at the festival, while lengthening the odds on ten or more to 11-4 (from 7-4)

Spokesman Simon Clare said: “Willie Mullins still has an incredibly strong hand at the festival in six weeks’ time but at least his rival trainers can take some encouragement from the events of today, as all four of his raiders met defeat in Britain.”

Betfair went further, easing Mullins for the British trainers’ championship. From 10-11, he is now 11-10, with Paul Nicholls regaining odds-on favouritism that he has held for most of the season.

Spokesman Barry Orr said: “Today’s results show that the Mullins camp is not infallible after all and it will take a considerable effort for him to land a first UK trainers’ title.”

Not all firms were so quick to react. On Saturday evening, Hills were still offering 12-1 about a Mullins clean sweep of the championship races, despite Djakadam’s fall and Thistlecrack tightening his grip on the World Hurdle, and he remains odds-on for the British trainers’ title away from Betfair.

There was one bright moment on an unusually quiet Saturday for Mullins, however, as Limini cruised to an 11 length Grade 3 win at Fairyhouse. She is now a best-priced 5-4 favourite for the festival’s new mares’ novice hurdle.

Wiltshire surge

Alan King seemed to have borrowed Mullins’ wings for the day on Saturday, enjoying what virtually amounted to cross-card domination. He took the feature SkyBet Chase at Doncaster with Ziga Boy, but more significant was his treble that ran through the middle of Cheltenham’s Festival Trials Day card.

Smad Place, Annacotty and Yanworth all announced themselves as contenders for Grade 1 prizes at Cheltenham. Smad Place is as short as 8-1 for the Gold Cup and 5s for the Ryanair (although as big as 16-1 and 10-1 respectively), while Annacotty was cut to 20-1 for the latter race by bet365 and Paddy Power.

Speaking after Smad Place’s win, King remained unsure on that horse’s target: “If I was confused before, I’m even more confused now!

“He blew me away in the Hennessy and he blew me away a little today, too.”

Yanworth now looks most likely to deliver King a Cheltenham winner and lock Mullins out of a clean sweep of the novice hurdle prizes. He did not come off the bridle in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle and is now best-priced 3-1 for the race at the festival which bears the same title.

 

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