Fleur Au Fusil completes huge weekend for Mullins

Alan Magee
February 4, 2024 5:19 pm

Memorable Leopardstown winner for Jody Townend.

Fleur Au Fusil put the seal on a momentous weekend for Willie Mullins with victory in the Coolmore N.H. Sires “Hurricane Lane” Irish EBF Mares I.N.H. Flat Race that brought the Dublin Racing Festival to a close.

Having already landed all eight Grade Ones over the course of the two days at Leopardstown, the champion trainer made it nine winners overall in the Grade Two finale.

Mullins was triple-handed, with his son Patrick siding three-time winner Aurora Vega, the 5-6 favourite, and nephew Charlie aboard impressive Thurles scorer Femme Magnifique.

That left Jody Townend to keep the ride on Fleur Fusil (10-1), and having guided the six-year-old to a debut success at Naas in November the partnership struck gold again with a two-and-a-half-length verdict from Switch From Diesel. Aurora Vega had to make do with minor honours in fourth.

Nine winners at this year’s #DublinRacingFestival for Willie Mullins. Fleur Au Fusil & Jody Townend land the @LeopardstownRC finale 🏆 pic.twitter.com/U45zO2NeYD
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 4, 2024

“Jody was excellent on the mare, the mare was good and Jody gets on very well with her. It was an excellent performance,” said Mullins.

“It’s not the instructions you would give to anyone, to jump off and run away at halfway and still win!

“I haven’t a clue whether we’ll go to Cheltenham or Aintree, this is her Gold Cup for the moment.”

Stuart Crawford’s 20-1 shot Brucio came home best of all to land the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Paddy Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle.

Following a Grade One treble on Saturday, Danny Mullins looked set to add to his tally after going clear aboard Minx Tiara, but the petrol gauge began to empty on the run-in and it was recent Catterick scorer Brucio who ran her down before kicking six lengths clear under J J Slevin.

Brucio jumps the final flight at Leopardstown (Niall Carson/PA)

“J J had her in a great position and she jumped very well for a lightly raced mare. There were a couple of hares in front and luckily they have just gone a bit too hard. She’s won well in the end,” said Crawford.

“She’s been steadily improving and won in Catterick the last day, which was a good piece of race selection by Anthony (Bromley).

“We were in a different ball game today, but it has given her a bit of confidence. She has a wee touch of class about her, and it couldn’t have gone any better on the day.

“We have plenty of options now and we could think about the mares’ novice in Cheltenham or a good handicap somewhere.”

Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore successfully combined in the O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey Leopardstown Handicap Chase, with Heart Wood (6-1) stretching 16 lengths clear of his rivals.

Lord Erskine and Darragh O'Keeffe in full flight — Lord Erskine and Darragh O’Keeffe in full flight (Niall Carson/PA)

De Bromhead said: “He had a couple of nice runs in beginners chases and in all fairness it seemed a reasonable mark.

“We said we’d aim for here today and we’re delighted to win this. We’ll see what the handicapper thinks and then sit down and decide where we go.”

The Harry Rogers-trained Lord Erskine was a shock 40-1 winner of the Timeless Sash Windows Handicap Hurdle, with Darragh O’Keeffe delivering his mount with a late charge to beat Magical Zoe and Zenta by three and a half lengths and a nose respectively.

“Darragh knows him well and was very good on him. I was a bit worried about the ground but Darragh said it was no problem,” said an emotional Rogers.

“I could never get him into a good race with a light weight and it was the same on the Flat. He’d a proper weight on his back today and there was a good gallop which suited him.

“His (late) owner Jerry Nolan was a pure gentleman. I rode winners for him and having an owner like him, you couldn’t buy them. He was easy to train for.”