‘He might not have a ceiling’ – Four horses Patrick Mullins can’t wait for this season 🗣️

Patrick Mullins is a top-drawer amateur rider and he knows more about his father Willie’s operation than most. He’s certainly worth listening to and he’s not expecting the Willie Mullins domination to end any time soon. With this in mind, we’ve picked out four horses which he has given particularly positive assessments of. Rather encouragingly, these include one of our Road To Cheltenham ante-post tips. You can check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

Facile Vega

A brilliantly bred son of the awesome Quevega, Mullins has high expectations this season. He said: “Facile Vega won two Grade 1s, but not the Supreme. Can he be better over fences? He is tall, athletic and light on his feet, so of course he can. He’ll need to be to reverse the form with Marine Nationale, and I for one can’t wait for the rematch.”

Impaire Et Passe

This horse absolutely blew everyone away with his awesome performance in the Ballymore at Cheltenham in March. It’s fair to say that Mullins is absolutely buzzing about this one. He added: “Impaire Et Passe was phenomenal in the Ballymore. The second, third and fourth are all Grade 1 winners and he destroyed them. We don’t know the ceiling on his ability yet. There might not be one.”

Ashroe Diamond

A Grade 1 winner at Fairyhouse in April, Mullins thinks this could be the best of Willie’s strong team of mares. Mullins said: “I’ll happily argue that the best performances by a mare over hurdles last year were the two times I rode her into third behind Marine Nationale and Irish Point, and then Facile Vega and Il Etait Temps. So I hope I get to ride her again this year.”

Ballyburn

Excellent in two bumper starts last season, this horse will improve the further he goes and is definitely one to look forward to, according to Mullins. He said: “Ballyburn might turn out to be the best of ours. He only gives his all when you demand it, but when the turbo kicks in it does so with a jolt. I’ll be fascinated to see how far he can go this season, albeit he will need to learn to race more professionally.”

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