Yorkshire Rose Mares' Hurdle Preview: Gala Can Win Mullins Battle
In a race dominated by two Willie Mullins trained mares, the Yorkshire Rose Mares' Hurdle is one of the feature contests on a cracking day at Doncaster on Saturday. Whichever mare - Mullins or otherwise - wins here will shorten significantly for the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, so it should be a very informative contest and Billy Grimshaw gives us his thoughts here...
This is by no means a two horse race, albeit it would be a small shock were the trophy not heading across the Irish Sea come 14:15 on Saturday, but the place to start has to be trying to choose which of the Mullins mares is worthy of support. Ashroe Diamond can boast race fitness and general experience over GALA MARCEAU, but I am not convinced those obvious positives means she warrants being favourite over the wide margin French Triumph Hurdle winner.
Ashroe Diamond has some rock solid form in against the boys on her CV, finishing not too far behind cracking novice hurdlers like Facile Vega and Marine Nationale last season. She picked up a Grade One with a five length win in the Honeysuckle Mares' Novice Hurdle to cap last season off in style and although she was no match for Teahupoo or Impaire Et Passe in the Hatton's Grace on seasonal reappearance this time around, she still ran with some credit and will not have been fully wound up for that test. She is a rock solid contender and never seems to run a bad race, however I do think there is more upside with her stablemate and it is Gala Marceau who will be carrying my cash.
The basis for my support for the second favourite here is pretty much all down to the faith I, and I suspect most others who have been following this great game for some time, have in Willie Mullins. The master of Closutton is undisputedly the number one trainer around over the jumps right now and his relentless desire to keep making incremental improvements looks set to keep him at the summit of National Hunt racing. His strategy this season with both Gala Marceau and Lossiemouth - who I fancy to claim International Hurdle glory at Cheltenham on Saturday as well - has been to keep the five year old mares off the track since the end of last season in order to give them a thorough training schedule without exposing them too early to races in open company.
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This is a brilliant idea to my mind, and one I am curious to why no one has adopted sooner with their Triumph Hurdle winners or placed horses. The first season out of juvenile company is notoriously tricky for those four turning five year old horses, so giving them an extended break before entering the fray in late winter seems the logical play. Gala Marceau only has one way of running her races and with such an extended time off the track since her last appearance, that stunning win at Auteuil, I would expect her to be pretty keen here and to really stretch on in the lead.
She is probably a better horse over further than this trip, however with the keenness I am anticipating I would expect her to be able to take the sting out of her opponents and turn this race at Doncaster - admittedly more of a speed favouring track usually - into a real test. She showed last season that she can battle and put her head down in a finish, so while Ashroe Diamond may set the standard now I am confident in the fullness of time Gala Marceau will emerge as the better horse of the two. She is a shorter price for the Mares' Hurdle than the favourite here and I'd expect her to finish ahead of her in both races. The penalty won't help, but she is good enough to win regardless.
A potential fly in the ointment if Mullins expects to coast serenely to the 1-2 here is Under Control for Nicky Henderson and JP McManus. The Seven Barrows team have a good record in this race and it is worth noting that JP's number one rider Mark Walsh is over from Ireland for this ride. Under Control had a brilliant season last year, only tasting defeat in the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham which was understandable. She quickly bounced back with two handicap wins at Sandown and Cheltenham to wrap up her season, thrusting herself into the upper echelons of mares trained in Britain.
Hopes were high for another big season before her reappearance at Newbury, but from the word go she looked unhappy and ended up finishing seventh. She has had a wind-op since that run and with her connections renowned for caution, one can rest assured she is fully tuned up for this contest. She may well be the one to split the Closutton pair and could be a good bet to follow Gala Marceau home, but I do think Mullins' perceived second string holds all the aces here. The three other mares in the race really should be in a race of their own for fourth place.