Cheltenham Festival: Willie Mullins at it again as The Nice Guy proves best in Albert Bartlett
Willie Mullins' dream day continued as The Nice Guy defeated Minella Cocooner in the staying novice hurdle race; leading jockey Townend again looked set to land the spoils but his stablemate stayed on best of all in the closing stages
Friday 18 March 2022 15:33, UK
The Nice Guy made it two from two over hurdles and gave Willie Mullins the top trainer title at Cheltenham 2022 as he saddled a one-two in an eventful Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle.
With 2-1 favourite Hillcrest never travelling and pulled up after the fourth-last in the Grade One three-mile event, the race seemed at the mercy of second-favourite Ginto with Jack Kennedy's mount tanking approaching the final bend.
Yet as he attempted to ease between rivals, he appeared to take a false step and suffered what sadly proved to be a fatal injury.
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That left the free-going Minella Cocooner to fight it out with stablemate The Nice Guy, who had been produced with a timely run approaching the second-last.
Carrying the colours made famous by Monsignor, the Malcolm Denmark-owned seven-year-old outstayed his rival up the hill to score by five lengths, denying Paul Townend a treble. Minella Cocooner had four and a quarter lengths to spare over Bardenstown Lad.
Mullins said: "Minella Cocooner must have a huge engine to make those mistakes and still be there at the finish.
"What a ride from Sean, he rode Galopin Des Champs last year here for me, he's an up-and-coming rider, he's very cool.
"I think he's someone who is going to come through the ranks, it's always nice to have those, but Paul will be around for a while yet.
"Things can't have gone to plan for the winner as the plan was to be in the first six or eight, but he obviously wasn't quick enough to do that and he just dropped him in and crept his way around. That's the good thing about fellows like that, they have the ability to change tactics. I like that sort of confidence.
"The horse shows nothing at home. I almost told Malcolm to sell him, but he said to give him a run and he won. He was going to go chasing but it was too late in the season so we ran him again and he won his second bumper, we then gave him a run in his hurdle and here we are today, he keeps improving all the time."
Of Hillcrest, trainer Henry Daly said: "Racing doesn't change in being full of ups and downs and we have hit one of the downs.
"We've come to Cheltenham as favourite for the Albert Bartlett and run no sort of race at all.
"At this stage there are no excuses, he just ran no sort of race."
His rider Richard Patrick said: "I have never had to make him do anything in the past, but I was having to make him do everything today.
"The ground was very tacky, he was never travelling or going through it. He wouldn't let himself down. It wasn't happening for him, but there will be another day.
"I pulled him up and he's all OK. I feel sorry for connections of Gordon Elliott's horse (Ginto)."
