What's next for Rich' Riches?

What's next for Mullins' Riches? (part one)
By @Redgameracer

If the 2016 festival told us one thing, it's surely that it's impossible to guess where Willie Mullins is going to send his horses. Yet, I'm going to attempt to do just that for next year. Or better, I'm going to give my opinion on where I would run them if they were mine. Oh, if only!

Let's take all the exciting talent from the Mullins yard under consideration. He has barns full of wonderful animals that would be stable stars in any other yard. We'll start on day one with race one, the Supreme. Min was a well beaten second and the general comments after the race were, that's as good as he is. He made some mistakes, jumping some of his hurdles from well out, suggesting that he's already been schooling over fences and it wouldn't surprise me if he goes chasing. The JLT or the Arkle would be the likely targets. Bellshill ran well below par on a trip that is way to short for him. Stepping up to three miles would be my suggestion, but it probably depends on some of the other Wylie horses whether or not he goes chasing. Petit Mouchoir is not quite the same potential, but he'll be a useful horse wherever he goes next.

Douvan was an easy winner of the Arkle and for my money, you have to send him to the Champion Chase. We certainly haven't seen the best of him yet, but he has every inch the potential to rule whatever division they decide to run him. I wouldn't send him to the Gold Cup just yet, not least because this will be Ricci's best chance of winning the QMCC. Of course, a step up in trip would not be out of the question, but the Ryanair is very much the ugly duckling of the big races and that would only be a fall back option, I'd say.

It gets more tricky as we look at the runners from the Champion Hurdle. Annie Power broke the track record on her way to glory and ran really really well, but now what? Faugheen is still waiting in the wings once he recovers from injury and then there's Arctic Fire as well. One thing we'll know is that the big two won't ever meet. It simply won't happen. In which case for my money, you keep Faugheen in the Champion Hurdle and drop Annie back to the Mares. It might seem a relegation to all her fans, but it's simple calculus. Faugheen is rated much higher and therefore should run in the bigger race. I don't think I'd want to step either of them up in trip to three miles either, so keeping them apart this way would be the plan. Arctic Fire and Nichols Canyon however, could both make the step up to three miles. The former has been tried at the trip and failed before, but he's getting more and more competition and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him miss out. Sempre Medici will probably run in handicap company. 

The Mares Hurdle then and Vroum Vroum Mag surely has to go chasing. She won the mares with ease, but she's such a great jumper that I'd rather see her over fences. The Ryanair would be my preferred option, but a lot of that will depend on the other Ricci stars, no doubt. There's still the matter of Vautour to sort out after all.

Mullins had three in the Neptune, including the very impressive winner Yorkhill. He looks like a chaser and is bred for it as well. I'm sure they'll try to avoid the clash with Min again, which is why I'd send him to the Arkle and Min to the JLT. I think Yorkhill will fare better over two miles and Min might benefit from a step up in trip. Of the two, I'd say Yorkhill was the more likely chaser anyway and the Arkle would be a bigger race for me. I'm not sure where A Toi Phil and Bello Conti would go, but since they're Gigginstown horses, I'd imagine chasing is on the cards for them as well. Thomas Hobson could well benefit from a step back in trip and it wouldn't surprise me to see him run in the Champion Hurdle. Ricci has already said he reminds him of Faugheen (especially the way he clouts through a hurdle) and two miles might suit him better.

The RSA had no Ricci horses in it, but there was still Roi des Francs for Gigginstown and Shaneshill for Wylie. The former disappointed and I'm not really sure where he goes from here. The four-miler was an option earlier in the season, but he was re-routed here. He never really got into it and it's difficult to see where next with him. Shaneshill seemed to enjoy the longer trip, staying on reasonably well, but his jumping was disappointing at times. Another who I'm not really sure where to go with from here.

Un de Sceaux was well beaten by the rejuvinated Sprinter Sacre, but there was nothing lost in defeat. He's still only eight and has a chance to improve yet. The ground may have gone against him and I'd expect him to give a much bolder showing in softer ground. He may miss the festival all together next year if the ground is decent. One thing I did notice, was that he wasn't his usual 'mad bastard' self. He seemed more reserved and controlled and I'm not sure if that was to his advantage. Felix Yonger didn't jump well and was pulled up. The old soldier doesn't quite live up to this sort of level and will be better served slightly below these races.

One to take out of the Fred Winter would be Voix Du Reve. He was in with every chance coming to the last and could well have won the race. No idea where he'll go from here and it's pretty hard to predict with Mullins anyway, but he's one to keep an eye out for. The same could be said for the many runners in the Champion Bumper, especially the front few from the yard Battleford and Bacardys and Castello Sforza. I'm sure we'll see more of all three of those.

In the next installment, we'll look at the other two days, including my thoughts on Vautour and Djakadam.