Willie Mullins has described the “extraordinary” reaction to Ethical Diamond’s shock success in the Breeders’ Cup Turf last week at Del Mar.
The five-year-old stunned the field when, after victories in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot and York’s Ebor Handicap, he was handed Grade One honors by Dylan Browne McMonagle, seeing off Godolphin’s nine-time top scorer Rebel’s Romance in a new course record.
Ethical Diamond was sent to the Breeders’ Cup for allegedly failing the veterinary checks for the Melbourne Cup and although Mullins rated him highly he was not expecting victory on one of the biggest international flat stages.
He told Racing TV: “It was extraordinary in America. From the moment he crossed the line and the announcer said he had broken the course record, I thought that was extraordinary to bring a handicapper, but I knew he was better than that. I thought he could win Group Three. I didn’t think he would go all the way.”
“He wasn’t allowed to go to Australia, but I told (assistant) David Casey to find something for him, a mile, and he came up with this idea. I thought ‘why not?’ and it’s important to have owners like the HOS Syndicate who are brave enough to try. I thought because they had a runner in Australia a few days later (Absurd in the Melbourne Cup) they might not go for it, but they were all full of support.”
Mullins has scooped more than 100 Cheltenham Festival winners during his career, won three Grand Nationals, numerous Irish trainers’ titles and is a double British champion, but he has been surprised by the response to his American success.
He added: “My phone lit up – I’d say I got more texts and emails than I got for any Cheltenham (winner), Grand National or even winning the (trainers’) championship in Great Britain. It was just extraordinary from both sides of racing, jumping and flat and from a lot of other people. I didn’t see what was happening at home but people told me there was a huge reaction.”
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