Fly returns with a bang
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CLOSUTTON in Bagenalstown is the place to be if you are going to attempt to pick the brains of Willie Mullins in the lead up to Cheltenham.
The Carlow based trainer had a great win with Hurricane fly in the Irish champion hurdle on Sunday and he's already being heavily backed to take all at Cheltenham.
Mullins has a wonderful record in recent years averaging over 100 wins every year. The most successful year in recent times was 09/10 with 146 wins. The flavour of the month at the moment however is Hurricane Flly and it's no wonder, the horse has gathered 11 major victories since 2008 and his six and a half length victory on Sunday having missed ten months racing through injury makes him look all the more impressive.
One thing about horses and horse trainers is the special bond they seem to share. Often the trainers speak a different language when it comes to their charges and you'd be forgiven for thinking they were talking about a family member. "He is a hell of a horse and probably only once or twice in your lifetime might you come across a horse with that sort of ability.
"He is hard to train as he is so tough on himself and we can't let him do what he wants to do. I just want to keep him right and if he gets beaten, he gets beaten.
"Hopefully he will improve for the run. He is a horse that has a habit of getting himself into trouble at home, but he seems to be right now," said Mullins.
One thing is clear, if that's how well a horse is treated in Bagenalstown then wouldn't we all love to be rode out there in the mornings, fed and watered, brushed and washed regularly and then occasionally win thousands for winning a race?
Best of luck to Hurricane Fly and Willie Mullins and all in Closutton in 2012.
