In his exclusive column, the National Hunt jockey and Betway ambassador hails the trainer's impact on the sport after another successful weekend
Definitly Red
I said in last week’s blog that Definitly Red was my best chance of a winner on Saturday and he ran really well to finish second.
I was pleased with him, he jumped neatly and has a great attitude. Warwick’s a tough test for a young chaser.
There were no excuses, he was simply beaten by a better horse – if you’d taken the winner out he’d have won impressively.
Maybe the four-miler would be the best race for him at the Festival. We know he stays well and he’d be a straight-forward ride. He copes with all types of ground.
Willie Mullins
The only problem he will have is that he’s likely to meet one or two from Willie Mullins’ yard, and possibly Black Hercules again.
I was very impressed with him, he jumped efficiently and it just goes to show the firepower that Willie has at his disposal.
He brought three horses over to Warwick, two won and the other finished second.
What chance have we got? We’re just lucky we normally only have to deal with him once a week!
It’s incredible what he’s doing at the moment. He has such strength in depth that he’s probably going to have two or three in every major race at the Festival.
I know some people say his dominance is a bad thing for racing, but I don’t agree with that.
Of course, it can be frustrating, but he’s been a trainer for nearly 30 years and has worked very hard to get where he is. He’s earned it.
Five or six years ago everyone thought Paul Nicholls was unbeatable, then when Nicky Henderson had seven Cheltenham winners he was the one that we all had to catch.
Things go round in cycles, in 10 years I’m sure we’ll be having the same conversation about another trainer.
Killultagh Vic and Ruby Walsh
There’s been plenty already written and said about Killultagh Vic and Ruby Walsh yesterday. It was just a great effort from both horse and rider.
We all know how good a horseman Ruby is. He’ll be the first to admit that when a horse makes a mistake and stays straight that it’s easier to stay on, but he did brilliantly well to keep him going and get up near the line.
The horse should also take massive credit. Not only did he manage to stay on his feet, but to quicken the way he did after such a bad mistake is very hard indeed.
This is what we all love about jump racing, you just never know what’s going to happen. It’s great for racing when you see something like that, it gets the sport more publicity.
Kerry Lee and Russe Blanc
Kerry’s had an amazing few weeks, starting with Bishops Road at Sandown, then Mountainous and Russe Blanc.
Her father Richard always did very well with his staying chasers, particularly on soft ground, and she’s certainly keeping up the family tradition. She’s doing really well.
It was a great result for Charlie Poste as well who won a Welsh National on Le Beau Bai for the family.
He’s a good jockey, but doesn’t get the opportunities he deserves. It’s great for the lads that work really hard to land a big Saturday winner.
Flintham
I was hugely impressed by Flintham. To be honest, I was shocked he could go that pace, on that ground, off top weight and still win.
It’s such an incredible family. Carruthers, Coneygree and now Flintham all have huge guts and just keep on finding and finding.
If the ground was to come up testing at Cheltenham, he would go very close in the Pertemps.
Balthazar King
Everyone always asks how Balthazar is and I can assure people that he’s really well and seems to be in great heart.
He’ll be starting schooling as soon as there’s some better ground. The plan is very much to go back to the Festival for the Cross Country Chase and we’ll then take it from there.
READ: Richard Johnson: Definitly Red my best chance of a winner at Warwick on Saturday
