Willie Mullins extratime


Willie Mullins

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Welcome to this edition of Extra Time from Ireland. We are at the

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County Carlow base of champion trainer Willie Mullins, the man

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whose dominance of the sport has reached seldom seen levels. He sent

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out eight winners at last year's Cheltenham Festival, the Olympics of

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jump racing. Although high-profile casualties have hit his hopes for

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the 2016 edition he is set to field a formidable team. Stay tuned as we

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endeavour to find out if he can improve on that impressive 2015

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tally. Willie Mullins, welcome to this

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special edition of Extra Time from your stables here south of Dublin.

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The 2016 Giazzon festival is almost here. Last year you won eight of the

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27 races. -- Cheltenham. What would constitute a successful festival

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this time? It would great to get aid. Last year was fantastic for us.

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We have a big team -- eight. If we have championship races, that will

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make it worthwhile. It is hard to know. Once it starts, if we can get

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a winner on the first day it relaxes everyone and then hopefully after

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that we will be lucky enough to get a couple more over the four days we

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would be pleased. I have looked at your Star Wars is this money despite

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the bad weather. Where do your biggest hopes like over the next

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days -- star horses. I am match and Du Vin steps into that scenario. --

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lie. Putting your biggest hope on a novice chaser... He has done nothing

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wrong in his career so far. He must be one of the best chances. What is

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it about Du Vin that excites you? I think you have said this is

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potentially the best horse you have had. Every time he works for us at

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home, he works so well. When he goes to the racetrack he has done the

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same. Looking at his size and scope, he is a huge horse, over 17

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hands, and yet he is like a horse that is about a hand smaller, a 16

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hand horse. He has great use of himself, considering how big he is.

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Most people don't like buying the courses because they are too gangly

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but he is a huge athlete. -- courses. He is able to carry his

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frame so easily -- horses. He takes jumps as if they are not there. He

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is just a natural. And he has huge ability. The Cheltenham Gold cup is

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seen as the feature event, the blue ribbon of steeplechasing. This time

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around it is one of the races to have eluded you but this time you

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are going in with a strong hand. The three horses are Jack Adam, Don Poly

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and one other. How optimistic are you that one of them can win this

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for you? Jack Adam, as a six-year-old last year, came second,

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beaten by a very good horse. He came back this year in the John Dawkins,

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he put in a huge performance to win over two and a half miles. Looking

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at that speed he showed, and we know he has the stamina to stay the trip,

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that is a big plus for him going into the race. Don Poly has raced

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twice at Cheltenham. He has won twice. He loves going up that hill.

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I think the extra trip he will encounter in the three miles will be

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right up his street. Vature has won twice at Cheltenham and has been

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very impressive. Left-handed, up and down hills, undulating, I think it

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suits him very well. So, his March form is always about a stone better

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than his winter form, so going into the festival, if he can reproduce

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what he has done over the last few years, that put him in with a

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winning chance. Looking at the Cheltenham Festival as a whole, it

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has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 or 30 years in your period as a

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racehorse trainer. How much importance to you place on these

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four days? Does it define your season essentially? It is great to

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have an event like chop them for national racing. It puts it right up

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there for this week, the whole year, between press, radio, newspaper, all

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of the social media. It gets top billing. It is very, very important.

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It is important for us because we can use it as a PR tool to get

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people interested in having a horse and maybe having a horse good enough

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to go to chop them, and having a successful Cheltenham is very

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important -- Cheltenham. There are other things in racing, like the

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championship, when big races at home, and... At it is right up

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there. It has to be. Many people mightn't be a way but you rode

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winners as well at Cheltenham, including as a jockey. We will leave

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that bind. I lucky enough to have ridden two national hunt race

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winners. -- behind. And tell us what that feeling is like write into the

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winners division at Cheltenham, particularly on a horse who was an

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Irish banker. That is right. It was tremendous. For any jockey riding a

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winner at Cheltenham, going up the straight, if you are like the enough

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and you are winning easy enough to enjoy it, -- lucky enough. My tongue

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was hanging out from exhaustion trying to ride him. Once you pull up

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and the roar is starting in the stands, and then the walk back

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down... Not the tunnel but the passageway where the horses walk

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back down and around and into the parade ring, you just don't want it

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to end. It's a fantastic feeling. I envy jockeys nowadays who are lucky

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enough to experience that. We touched on your family involvement

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in racing there. It is a great pedigree you have. Your father was a

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successful trainer for 50 years plus. Obviously your son Patrick is

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a champion amateur rider. Was raising a certainty from day one for

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you? -- racing. I don't know. I always like horses. I tried other

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things. I had no interest. I didn't really like going to school. I think

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horses probably were the place I was going to end up. So, you know, a

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sort of... People were telling me... It always came back to

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horses. Tell us about the transition from jockey to trainer. Was it

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pretty seamless? Did you always feel a career in the training ranks was

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for you? Yes. Once I decided racing was it rather than going into

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another branch of horses, and I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy

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it, but it is a natural progression, and then once I got

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into training, you know, I didn't think there was anything going to be

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as good as riding horses, but actually that trainer winner at

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Cheltenham especially gives you huge satisfaction. Much more than I had

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anticipated. Tell us about the early days. I heard a story that perhaps

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you can put more flesh on the bones of when you got your trainer's

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licence. Was there a club inspection when you needed six horses. I went

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for a dual license. You had to have four forces. I had six to start. --

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horses. I think I had for riding out and I needed to Matt Moore and one

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was a broodmare down the field and one mightn't have just been alive at

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the time but we still have the passport. So, the day that

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inspection was, obviously they were away galloping someone else, but

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everyone has to start somewhere and I am sure the inspector, Stephen

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Quirke, who was a train himself, he knows, you know, people have to get

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started, and maybe you overlook certain things like our schooling

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grounds. And I said to Stephen, we are way down over that field and

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looking at your shoes, I'm not sure we will go down the course, looking

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down there. And Stephen looked at me, winked and said, that's fine,

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Willie. So, we got on from there and, you know, everyone needs to

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start from somewhere and we were lucky enough to get our few winners

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in the first year and it progressed from there. The obvious question is,

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from those humble beginnings, just how have you managed to build your

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current strength of forces to what it is today at about 150 in training

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at a given time? Yes. A lot of disappointment. A lot of money lost.

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At that time you put your own money in. You know, we least horses, we

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bought cheap horses, we sold them on. Were there times when you

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thought maybe you were doing the wrong thing going into this? No. It

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wasn't like that. I always look forward. It was more work. It was

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what I was going to do. I couldn't contemplate not doing it and going

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working somewhere else. It never entered my head and I thought, maybe

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that's... That's part of it, that you actually... I was just looking

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forward... You know, would you be able to be champion trainer, could

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you be good enough trainer to have you know maybe 30 or 40 horses and

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that's what we were looking at that time. That was probably the biggest

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hunt trainer in Ireland. One or two hunt trainers might have had more.

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You know, so, I always look at it like this was going to work.

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Training horses, that's the way... It was just getting the right

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horses, getting the right... You know it always looked a lot simpler

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than it worked out. You probably just don't realise the

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disappointment. When you buy horses, they are bad and you've got to go

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out and borrow more money. It is tough. But it's what I was brought

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up with, so I knew where to turn, where to go if things went wrong

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like they do all the time. We've got an insight into the running of a

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massive operation like this this morning. Lots and lots of staff

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obviously. How do you run the yard? Are you a disciplinarian or do you

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like to see things running smoothly without too much intervention from

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yourself? I got a good piece of advice early on in my career. You

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should run your business on the 3D principle, decide, delegate and

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disappear. And I tend to do that. I like to be there in the mornings on

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the gallop, I like to be there in the afternoon, I like to let my

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headman and girls get on with the job. And I try not to interfere with

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it. It gets done, probably not the way I want it done, but they do it

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their way and they get over it and then I go around at night time just

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having a look at the things, but... Basically, I have good people, I

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give them free rein to work away and look after their own staff. And it

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is... When you give people responsibility, it is tremendous how

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they grow and they enjoy the responsibility. That works for me.

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How exactly do you go about acquiring the calibre of staff you

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seem to have here? Is it a chicken and egg scenario? Are people keen to

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come here because of the status? That has been the bonus over the

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last few years, yes. People want to work here. And you can get quality

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people. But before that... You go back to the Celtic Tiger times and I

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couldn't get anyone to work in the stable yard because there was so

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much money to be made doing other jobs, you know, in the building

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industry or in catering, you know, a lot of indoor jobs. It is a tough

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life here. I just fell this morning riding out on a Monday morning. And

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before everyone came here, our guys had been, first lot, you know, hail,

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rain or snow they are here. They know that is the life. And now...

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That's just the sort of ethos here that... The way we do it. People

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come in, they learn and they pick it up. If we see people deviating from

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that, it had better be very good, what they are trying to do, instead

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of what we do. And we look at it and we will see, and then decide, no,

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maybe leave that and do it our way, or maybe we will take on board what

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you are saying. I think that Alaba staff it is fair to say expense to

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your team of jockeys. Your number one is a household name, Ruby Walsh,

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the most successful jockey at children of all time, considered one

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of the best is not the best of all time over jumps. Give us an insight

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into your relationship on him that met with him on a day-to-day basis.

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However what is he? His experience of all tracks now in England a huge

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benefit. How he knows all the opposition in

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different races... When we talk about riding in a race with hurdles,

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Ruby will know it inside out and know how it will pan out. We will go

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through the merits of our horse and what might happen that would not

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suit him, and we will try and... Have a plan to use the merits of the

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horse to the best possible advantage. His knowledge means that

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he is actually going to do it. He will tell me what he thinks, and

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unless I think something totally different, we will probably do what

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he says. All the other jockeys riding with him... And the staff,

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riding with him every day, they pick up on that and the fact that he

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knows all of that. They try and copy that, they look at everything around

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them. It gives them confidence that they are able to learn from him just

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walking around. When they ride in races, it gives them confidence.

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What about the horses themselves? You have to be able to train them to

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the best possible ability? What about the kind of forces we have

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seen on the programme this morning? We have scouts, agents. We have to

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very good agents. We have one in Ireland and one in France. They

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spend all their time trying to source these horses. People with

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those horses know they are like people. People used to ring me, but

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I didn't have the time to do it. So they get it done, and when they have

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picked out my sources, we discuss it and then we try and find a client.

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Or, clients come to us and say that they want a horse. But those horses

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are not around... You can't go in and buy them. I have a big budget.

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We will come back within 24 hours with a horse. But sometimes you can

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wait for months and months for the right horse. The French market has

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become quite important? Are they perhaps more minded to sell their

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horses? We find when we go to buy in France, they have a price standard.

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With Irish forces, they are racing people. They want to race their

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horses. It is hard to buy a top-class horse in Ireland. They can

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be bought privately right after a race, or else go to a sale. There

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are quite a few sales that have sprung up in the last few years. It

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is a different market. I'm sure you've heard it said that one

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person's dominance is not necessarily good for the sport. How

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do you feel when people say that? Is it a compliment? I suppose it is. We

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can do nothing, only enjoy it at the moment. The nature of sport and

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life, it is psychical. We are at the top at the moment, we may not be in

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a few is' time. How much do you enjoy it on a day to day basis? I

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pace myself. -- cyclical. I go to the bar and look at the talent, and

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we wonder... Ourselves and our staff, we look at what would be in

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each current, and you think any trainer would love to have that. I

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said to my son, don't think this is normal. This is not normal. This is

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extraordinary. We are lucky enough to be in this position, but I don't

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know how long we can keep it going for. How far into the future do you

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look? Do you see yourself doing this for a long time to come? Yes. People

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look at retiring when they reach a certain age, I never envisaged that.

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It's's what I do, what I enjoy. It is one of those jobs in sport where

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you are able to have a longer career, not like an athlete like a

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footballer? Some trainers get better as they get older. Some people think

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that the experience you get from training helps you as you get older.

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You probably get more confident, too. The issue of doping is becoming

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quite high profile. How much of a threat to think it is to the sport

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at the moment? Do you think it is adequately policed? I think they are

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investing a lot of money in it. It is adequately policed, we have had

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very few cases. The few we have had have been dealt with. However, we

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have spent more money to try and keep up with the different types of

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stuff that are supposed to be used... I don't know. I think what

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has gone on in the last few years has been dealt with. There are two

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different kinds of doping. When I hear of a horse being doped, I

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assume it is to go slow. We always worry about that, especially coming

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up to a big festival. We tell the staff to be on the lookout for

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strange people around. I know that they think it's a bit crazy. I

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remember going back to the 1980s, there was a doping gang around

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England and Ireland. We didn't suspect at that time, but now we

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would know what to look for. It makes it a bit harder. Every year,

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there is some wiseguy who would think, we will try and do that and

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gain an edge. Then there is doping to make horses go faster, be

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stronger and such. You are on the lookout for people using steroids

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and things like that. I think it is the same in every sport. I think we

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have as good a handle on it in racing as any other sport. In recent

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years, it seems you have been keen to campaign your horses

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internationally? You were very close to winning the Melbourne Cup. How

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much do you enjoy that aspect of the sport? Are you keen to add the

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Melbourne Cup to your CV? Absently. Dumping can transfer over to the

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flight. Sometimes we take some of the fight to go jumping, sometimes

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the other way around. If we are lucky enough to win the Melbourne

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Cup or to compete in those types of races... You can go to Hong Kong or

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Japan as well. You have had success in Japan? Yes, I have. The prize

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money is huge in those kinds of events. Irish people should... We

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are good to travel, generally. I am sure we could, people could do more.

:22:50.:22:58.

Returning to the theme of the Cheltenham Festival, how much do you

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change things in the run-up to that every year? You have said in the

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past that training courses is about fuel for you, does that manifest

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itself at this time of year? I think so. We try to keep a routine.

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Getting back to what you said about changing for the festival, we try to

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look at what we think went wrong in the previous year and think about

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how we can get past it this year. If I was able to grant you one wish for

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Cheltenham this year? What would it be? I think a nice first day to get

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on the board. When the first one goes in, it is like someone letting

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the air out of the tyres. A great relief. I think it settles everyone

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down. If you are going into the second or third day looking for a

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winner, we would be hair out at that stage. Good luck at the Cheltenham

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Festival and thank you very much for joining us.

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Given the amount of rain which many of us have seen

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