Don’t tinker trainers’ championship to stop Willie Mullins – and what Ryan Moore said to me after that Sandown interview
SO, Willie Mullins did it.
And now for history, trying to do what Vincent O’Brien never did – which is be based in Ireland and land the British Jumps Trainers’ Championship three times in a row.
Since Saturday many have questioned why the jockeys’ championship is decided on wins, and the trainers’ championship on prize money.
Some believe it’s wrong that Mullins can just pop in and take the big prizes, but, over the course of the season, win fewer races than in this case his arch rival Dan Skelton.
But there should be no meddling with the current status quo.
It’s all very logical when you think about it.
A jockey’s job is to win. That’s it. They should go out trying to land every race that they ride in.
The role of a trainer is different. A trainers’ job is to try to gain as much prize money for their owner as they can.
That may involve finishing third, fourth or fifth in a race.
While low-grade horses may be more difficult to win races with, that should be of no relevance to gauging who is top dog.
Put simply, it’s all about money for a trainer.
Finishing third in the Derby should always be considered a better performance by a handler than winning a low grade Class 6 handicap.
Because at the end of the day, the champion should be the best mixing it with the best.
There is not a single handler that is training low grade horses that wouldn’t swap them all for better ones. That’s simple meritocracy.
No handler has ever said: “I want to keep training low grade Class 6 handicappers because it shows I’m better than someone training a Galileo to win the Derby.”
If anyone doesn’t think that Willie Mullins is not the outstanding handler then they are in cloud cuckooland. He is.
And he’s the best in Ireland. And he’s the best in Great Britain.
Everyone else just needs to upgrade to be better than Mullins.
Meanwhile, I was lucky enough to be at Sandown for ITV on Friday and during my shift interviewed Ryan Moore after he landed the Group 3 Classic Trial on Swagman.
Moore was in terrific form to be quite honest, but at the end of the interview the microphone just caught me saying to Ryan: “You should have said that.”
It meant plenty on social media wondered what the conversation was about.
One of those who commented was Racing Lee below!
Well, I had started the interview by saying Aidan O’Brien was landing the race for the first time. That was factually incorrect.
After the interview and with a rye (or Ryan) smile, Moore said: “You got it wrong. Aidan won it with Imperial Monarch.”
To which I replied: “You should have said that. The viewers love it when you put me right.”
Ryan quipped back: “I’d just make you look even more stupid.”
It was all a bit of fun, for all that Ryan will indeed have thought me a fool.
I used to have plenty of fun with Sir Mark Prescott over things like this.
Sir Mark eventually got upset if I didn’t make a mistake in an interview that he could correct me on afterwards.
Our interviews always went much better when I made an error, to the extent that in the end I would conjure up something deliberately just to keep him happy!
By the way, this week it’s the 2000 Guineas. That means Field of Gold time.
All I have to say for the time being is: Come on ‘the Shoe’!
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