Willie Mullins has voiced his frustration with the track conditions at the Cheltenham Festival after withdrawing his top chaser, Fact To File, from the Ryanair Chase on Thursday.
Although the ground at Prestbury Park was officially described as good, good to soft in places for the third day of racing, Mullins and owner JP McManus were concerned. After McManus walked the track on Thursday morning and seeing his horses’ performances earlier in the card, Mullins decided the conditions posed too much risk for the Irish Gold Cup winner.
Speaking to Racing TV, Mullins said, “JP walked the track this morning, and I also came across it after exercising horses. Watching Bambino Fever, who was unplaced in the first race, I thought the ground was too firm for her, and that proved to be the case. These horses are extremely valuable and difficult to replace. We waited for the promised rain, but it never arrived, so we decided it was safer not to run her.”
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Mullins added that although the forecasted rain had not come, he expected the racecourse to do more watering to soften the going before the switch to the New Course races later in the festival.
“In jumps racing, we prefer soft ground. ‘Good’ isn’t ideal for the type of horses we train. We want the best horses competing on the best ground at the Festival, but if conditions remain like this, we will hesitate to bring them here. We were promised watering, and I’m not sure that has happened. That’s frustrating. Usually, nobody complains about additional watering, even if it leads to heavier rain. But this firm ground isn’t suitable for the top National Hunt horses we bring over,” Mullins explained.
He concluded by emphasizing the importance of ground conditions for elite jumpers, noting that softer going benefits the majority of the best horses competing at Cheltenham.