Tag Archive for: Maughreen

Maughreen handed Fairyhouse target following Festival hiccup

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Connections of Maughreen have a Fairyhouse plan pencilled in after her hard-luck tale at Cheltenham.

The six-year-old, who is related to the great Faugheen on the dam side, is trained by Willie Mullins and went into the Festival with an unbeaten record having taken a bumper and a maiden hurdle by wide margins.

She was ridden by Patrick Mullins as an 11-1 chance in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, which was held on the penultimate day of the meeting after a week of difficulties at the start.

Unfortunately, the same issues occurred again for Maughreen’s race, and after the field failed to get away the first time they were required to line up for a standing start.

When the tape rose, Maughreen shied away from it and was left facing the wrong way as the rest of her rivals hit their stride, meaning she lost lengths from the beginning and was never at the races.

Mullins minded her from then on and let her hack along at the back, but she could never progress from the rear and was the last horse to finish.

The result was understandably a huge disappointment for James Fenton and his Closutton Racing Club, who own the bay, but he was stoical on reflection and has a clear next step in mind in the Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle.

“She arrived home from Cheltenham the following morning and she’s 100 per cent,” he said.

“We’ll probably look at the Grade One for novice mares at Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday, I think we’ll go in that direction with her.

“We’ll keep our options open in the meantime, hopefully all being well we will go there but ultimately plans will be left to Willie.”

Though the Cheltenham result was obviously frustrating, Fenton was keen to look at the broader picture and glad to have Maughreen home safe and well after two horses lost their lives across the meeting.

“We’ll take it on the chin, you have to bring it into perspective with what happened to Corbetts Cross and Springwell Bay,” he said.

“The main thing is that we have our mare safe and sound and that is 100 per cent more important than anything else that happened.

“Patrick minded her, we had what you might call an expensive schooling round around Cheltenham.

“The main thing is we’ve our horse to look forward to, and my heart goes out to those whose horses didn’t come home.”

Maughreen to be roared on by army of fans at Festival

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Maughreen will bring her own 80-strong fan base to Cheltenham next week when she lines up in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

The six-year-old is related to the great Faugheen on the dam side and garnered plenty of attention when winning on her bumper debut at Punchestown by 11 lengths last January.

A setback followed and it would be nearly a year before she had her next start, which came in a mares’ maiden hurdle at the same track 378 days after her first racecourse appearance.

Though she had that significant absence to overcome, Maughreen was still an easy winner at the first time of asking over timber, strolling to a five-length victory ahead of 11 rivals as the 4-11 favourite.

Connections and trainer Willie Mullins decided she should head straight to the Cheltenham Festival as a result of that performance, where she will be well supported by a huge travelling group of Closutton Racing Club members.

“She’s great, we’re very happy with her and very excited to have a runner,” said the syndicate’s James Fenton.

“We had Shewearsitwell for the Closutton Racing Club and now we’ve Maughreen, she goes there with a real live chance.

“The anticipation is building and our bags are being packed for next week. There’s about 80 travelling over, so a big contingent, and to be fair to Cheltenham, they’ve been great to deal with so far.

“I should say she’ll be the most well-supported horse on the day! Hopefully, she’ll travel well and do everything right, I suppose all the work is done now and she just has to give it her best shot.”

Maughreen is an imposing type with a chasing career ahead of her, but given the time she missed, Fenton is keen to make the most of her hurdling phase for now.

“She’s a baby, even though she’s a six-year-old, she’s a small bit of furnishing to do but we’re very happy with her,” he said.

“She’s a chaser in the making but she can jump hurdles as good as anything, she’s a good, big, robust mare and we look forward to running her over fences.

“She has got unfinished business over hurdles first and we want to get that seen to.”

Back-in-action Maughreen makes no mistake on jumping bow

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Maughreen strengthened her Cheltenham Festival claims with a front-running victory on her return to action at Punchestown.

From the family of the brilliant Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen, and similarly marked with a white blaze, the six-year-old made quite an impression on her bumper debut at Punchestown in January of last year, but had not been seen in competitive action since.

Despite the 378-day absence, Maughreen was the 4-11 favourite for her comeback in the 50,000 Euros BetVictor Graduation Bonus Series Mares Maiden Hurdle and led from pillar to post under Paul Townend.

Having jumped well in the main, the Willie Mullins-trained mare was in full command rounding the home turn and while she was steadied into the final flight, she picked up again on the run-in to beat the staying-on Dee’s Lady by five lengths.

Gordon Elliott’s five-time winner Familiar Dreams, who was last seen running on the Flat at Keeneland, was best of the rest in third.

Coral make Maughreen the 3-1 favourite from 5-1 for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

“I thought it was a huge performance for a mare having only her second run, against the experience that Familiar Dreams had,” said Mullins.

“She went out and made her own running, jumped from hurdle to hurdle. She made one or two little mistakes and got a bit close at the last, but Paul was happy to let her fiddle that. She learned.

“I’m not sure we’ll any more chances to give her a run between now and Cheltenham, we’ll see. Looking at that I don’t think she’ll need one. She should improve, I’m hoping she’ll improve from that. She took a blow and she was idling.

“All roads lead to Cheltenham.”

Maughreen was one of three winners on the card for the Mullins-Townend combination, with the treble initiated by Karbau in the 50,000 Euros BetVictor Graduation Bonus Series Maiden Hurdle.

The five-year-old was a 1-2 favourite off the back of finishing fourth on his Irish debut at Naas and duly raised his game register a 16-length success.

Mullins said: “That was a nice performance. He learned a lot from the first day and put it to good use.

“He was taking about half a length out of most of them (at his hurdles). I’m very pleased with him.

“He’s in the Supreme Novices’ and the Turners at Cheltenham. He’s a forward going type and he likes to race and jump.”

Port Joulain (11-10 favourite) completed the Closutton hat-trick with a clear-cut victory in the Festival Flexi Ticket Is Back Maiden Hurdle.

“At last he’s improving that fella. He’s probably not the simplest horse to ride, he’s very fussy with his mouth and we might try and sort that out,” Mullins added.

“Paul said when he got down and rode him he went straight for him and he was happy, but he has a very tender mouth.

“He’ll possibly be better going left-handed. I don’t know where we’ll go, he might be more Fairyhouse/Punchestown (rather than Cheltenham) but they are two right-handed tracks.

“He could make the top grade as a chaser.”

Maughreen heads to Punchestown for hurdling bow

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All eyes will be on the impressive bumper winner Maughreen when she makes her hurdling debut at Punchestown on Monday.

The six-year-old, who is from the family of the great Faugheen on the dam side, is trained like her relative by Willie Mullins and made her debut last January.

She started out in a Punchestown bumper and was an easy 11-length winner, with the form holding up as several of the mares behind her have fared well since.

Maughreen has not seen a racecourse since that effort, however, with a setback keeping her sidelined for the rest of the season.

Having recovered from that issue, she has been limbering up for her jumping debut recently and will return to Punchestown to contest the #50,000 BetVictor Graduation Bonus Series Mares Maiden Hurdle.

“We’re very happy with her, she worked during the week and her schooling is very good,” said James Fenton of owners Closutton Racing Club.

“We haven’t really asked her any serious questions at home or anything, so there’ll be improvement to come.

“We’re in against a very good mare in Familiar Dreams, she’s won four bumpers and two of them have been black type, so it will take a fair performance to beat the likes of her.

“We’re hoping she jumps well and puts in a big run, so we get our season off to a good start.

“The race has thrown up some nice mares over the last couple of runnings and she’s back to where she won her bumper.

“There’s nothing wrong with the form of that bumper. To the eye, she won it very impressively and if you look back, a lot of the mares behind her have come out and won since.

“She’s been off the track since, obviously, she had some small niggles. In the long run, things happen for a reason and the time she’s had off has been an asset.

“She’s developed now, she’s a big mare and those mares just need a little more time to fill out.

“With her size, it was always going to be a positive for her to have more time to mature, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”

Leading Champion Bumper hope Maughreen ruled out of Cheltenham

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Leading Champion Bumper contender Maughreen has been ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival after suffering a minor setback.

The daughter of Walk In The Park is bred to be smart, being out of a half-sister to the brilliant Faugheen, and could not have been more impressive when scoring by 11 lengths on her racecourse debut at Punchestown in January.

The five-year-old was disputing favouritism with some bookmakers to provide trainer Willie Mullins with a 13th Champion Bumper success at Prestbury Park – and while she will not be making the trip across the Irish Sea, connections are hopeful she will make a full recovery.

James Fenton, racing manager for her Closutton Racing Club owners, said: “The team at Willie’s just copped that she wasn’t moving correctly after a piece of work during the week, we’ve done a bit of investigating to see what was going on and we caught something very small.

“She’s by no means in any danger or anything like that, it’s an injury that I would take every day of the week. It’s very minor and the prognosis for it is described as excellent.

“She was going to Cheltenham, that was the plan. I discussed it on Monday night with Willie and a lot of the members had their plane tickets booked and everything, but they’re very understanding as that’s the game we’re in.”

On whether Maughreen could run later in the spring, Fenton added: “It’s up in the air at the moment, but there’s one thing we won’t be doing and that’s putting pressure on her.

“She’ll be well looked after, we’ll get her right and we’ll kick on again. We’ll just have to reassess her after two weeks and I would expect her to make a full recovery.”

Maughreen’s next move will be left up to Mullins

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Maughreen has bounced out of her stunning debut win in great shape but future plans for the exciting mare have still to be discussed.

Out of an unraced half-sister to 2015 Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen, there was always going to be plenty of attention on her when she hit the track.

She did not let members of the Closutton Racing Club down with a perfect performance at Punchestown, cruising clear under Patrick Mullins to win by 11 lengths.

Like Faugheen, she is trained by Willie Mullins – and James Fenton, who manages the syndicate, is happy to leave future targets up to the champion trainer.

“From day one, she was always professional. She’d been working well at home but had never shown us as much as that,” said Fenton.

“There’s never been any fuss with her, she’s been very straightforward. Obviously, she’s by Walk In The Park and she has the size, scope and pedigree to match.

“I pay a lot of heed on the cross of the stallion to the dam’s sire. Her dam’s sire is Goldmark and that cross works for me.

“I actually didn’t know what her pedigree was; once I like an individual, I like them and I just knew she was a Walk In The Park. When I looked into her pedigree, it was a bonus.

“Genuinely, I normally leave the planning up to Willie. I’d be up for keeping her to her own sex.

“There’s a lot of talk about Cheltenham but we had a very good bumper mare two years ago in Ashroe Diamond and she fits a similar profile for me (went on to win at Aintree). Ultimately, Willie will make the decision and we’ll discuss it over the next few weeks.”

Crucially, Maughreen has taken her first race in her stride.

Patrick Mullins returns on Maughreen
Patrick Mullins returns on Maughreen (PA)

Fenton said: “She’s come out of her race well, they are very happy with her and again, she’s just been very professional. There’s a lot of valuable mares’ bumpers and we wouldn’t be over-racing her this year in the hope she comes back good and strong next year.

“There’s 100 shares in the syndicate. Every year, we throw the few quid that we make into a dividend and start from scratch again.

“A couple came over from England yesterday and there’s great camaraderie in the club, over the last few years we’re working at a strike-rate of about 40 per cent and everyone is really enjoying it.

“Last year, we had Shewearsitwell, she was third in the Grade One but was coming towards the end of her career and I just had to say we might be a bit slow now as I needed to rebuild the stock.

“In fairness, they understood and were patient. We’ve seven mares in training and hopefully they’ll all be out in the next few months.”

Fenton was, though, keen to clear up where Maughreen’s name came from.

“There’s a lot of people think Maughreen is named after Maureen Mullins but that’s not the case, I said to her I wouldn’t like that pressure on her,” said Fenton.

“She’s named after a next-door neighbour of mine called Maureen O’Brien from Castlelyons.

“It was an emotional day for me yesterday, as she was like my mother growing up and she died a couple of years ago.

“I always told her someday I would have a horse named after her and her favourite horse was Faugheen and it just happened the way it worked out.”

Maughreen shows plenty of family ability in dazzling debut

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Maughreen – a mare out of a half-sister to the brilliant 2015 Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen – made a most impressive racecourse debut at Punchestown.

Trained like Faugheen by Willie Mullins, the five-year-old was sent off the 1-2 favourite in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Flat Race and the result was never in any doubt.

Kept wide throughout by Patrick Mullins, it was not until the field straightened up for home that Maughreen gave an inkling of what she could do.

The moment she was asked she immediately picked up and without any real effort from the saddle, she had shot 11 lengths clear of Harrys Annie.

Maughreen was swiftly cut in the Champion Bumper market by Paddy Power to 10-1 from 20s.

Maughreen with members of the Closutton Racing Club
Maughreen with members of the Closutton Racing Club (PA)

Patrick Mullins said: “She was very impressive. She was very professional, settled great and quickened up lovely. She handled the ground well.

“Her work was good, but that is probably even better than what she was doing at home. With that pedigree the owners are entitled to get more than a bit excited.

“We’ll go for black-type bumpers and everything is on the table. The DRF (Dublin Racing Festival) might come a bit soon and there is Fairyhouse, Punchestown and Aintree. I think she is entitled to take her chance.”

Maughreen completed a double on the day for the champion trainer, who also took the opening Bet Victor Proud To Support Irish Racing Maiden Hurdle with Highwind.

The juvenile effectively had to win the race twice, as with the race seemingly in the bag he made a hash of the final flight.

It was to his credit that when Sean O’Keeffe asked him again he still had plenty left and the 6-4 favourite beat Pigeon House by two and three-quarter lengths.

Sean O'Keeffe with Highwind
Sean O’Keeffe with Highwind (PA)

The winner was cut to 16-1 from 25s for the Triumph Hurdle by Betfair.

“It wasn’t without a scare, but he has a nice engine and a bit of class. He did it nicely at the finish,” said O’Keeffe.

“He knuckled at the back of the second-last and the same at the last. He went and won his race before doing that at the last but once they came to him, he picked up well again.

“He’s a laid-back horse and stays well. He’s a horse with a nice future and there will be plenty of improvement in him.”