Willie Mullins hopes Zaidpour can have his day

Willie Mullins

Trainers as a breed tend to adhere to the motto of "prepare for the unexpected". Willie Mullins was watching Cooldine in his final workout before he was due to run in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown this weekend.

It was something that the trainer had done most days since the horse arrived at the yard four years ago but there was something wrong; a discordant note in the usually smooth symphony of a Thoroughbred in motion on the gallops. "It was an extraordinary thing," Mullins said. "On Thursday morning we came out and I just thought he was making a noise that he'd never made in his life before. It was a wind noise and it was there again this morning so we've just scoped him.

"His larynx is paralysed - more or less overnight - which means he has to have an operation but I'm not sure whether, at his age, it'll be successful."

At a stroke, weeks of preparation was rendered useless and the wet weather, which forced this card to be abandoned last Sunday, has weakened the claims of stable companion Kempes.

The strength of the trainer's hand in the other Grade One chase on the card, the Dr PJ Moriarty Novices' Chase, could be viewed as a double-edged sword with Mikael d'Haguenet and Quel Esprit taking each other on. "They're declared for Navan on Sunday, just in case Leopardstown gets called off again, but I think when you have a horse capable of running in a Grade One they have to take their chance," Mullins reasoned. "It's not ideal but both the horses are good enough to take their chance."

Mikael d'Haguenet proved he was good enough in what is now the Neptune Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival two years ago and followed that up at the Punchestown Festival six weeks later. Thereafter followed 593 days off the track until Mikael d'Haguenet came back to run a cracking race, until falling at the last fence, in the Drinmore Chase at Fairyhouse in mid-December but then seemed to be the first to crack when only fifth to Realt Dubh in a Grade One at Leopardstown a fortnight later. It was a deflating moment for Mullins, from a horse who has promised much, but the trainer retains the faith.

"We ran him back quickly - remember he was off for nearly two years - and then he came back within two weeks, which wasn't ideal. I would just draw a line through his second run. I think he's in good form at the moment and he'll run a good race tomorrow."

Which race Mikael d'Haguenet might contest at the Cheltenham - he is entered in the Arkle Trophy, RSA Chase and Ladbrokes World Hurdle, is something that Mullins cannot shed any light on as of yet - and certainly not as much as can be found when the horse strides out with that ground devouring-stride. "There's a lot of daylight underneath him," Mullins conceded. "He's tall and lanky and he should have sounder legs than most steeplechasers, who are heavier. His tendons have always been fine - he's had splint trouble and a little bit of ligament and back trouble - but his tendons have been fine.

"I think we'll just see what happens tomorrow and leave our decision to after that but I wouldn't have any problems going back hurdling with him."

The day before Mikael d'Haguenet was beaten the question being asked was what went wrong with Zaidpour? Having won the Royal Bond Hurdle by 12 lengths he was expected to follow up in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle but was beaten a neck by First Lieutenant. Some questioned whether Paul Townend was at fault but Mullins takes the logical view that the jockey can only go as fast as the horse is capable of on any given day and hopes that Zaidpour will have his day again in the Grade One Deloitte Novices' Hurdle.

"Paul was waiting for him to come to life and to fire, and he didn't," Mullins explained. "His natural ability got him to where he was - I'm hoping he's better than he was the last day. At home he always shows me plenty but it's a very hot race."

A case of hoping for the best and preparing for the unexpected.

Paul Wheeler

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