What punters must learn from the Ayr action: this Willie Mullins character can train a bit
![](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2F2e79e95b6c22-cookreview22apr.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
I tend to think of the betting market as something that gets sharper and better informed every year, an intimidating foe, really hard to beat. But perhaps that's baloney, considering what a mess it made of Willie Mullins' horses at Ayr on Saturday.
Mullins is a trainer of favourites. He had five odds-on winners at the Cheltenham Festival and his horses were favourite for about half of all festival races whenever I looked at those markets through the winter. He wins everything these days and punters are not generally keen to go against him.
Except on Scottish National day, it turned out. The great man had runners in all seven races at Ayr but didn't have an outright favourite until the novice hurdle and the bumper at the end of the card. Well, he'd never had a winner at the track before, had he? It's one thing to mop up all the best races at Cheltenham and Aintree, but winning races in Scotland is tougher again. . .
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inThe Cook Review
Last updated
- Being shoved aside and forced to improvise proves a blessing for You Got To Me
- There are brighter days ahead for beaten July Cup favourite Inisherin but River Tiber is one to worry about
- Why so downbeat? Let's celebrate City Of Troy's rare double - his fans had little to worry about
- Once the Ballydoyle runners asserted themselves in the Irish Derby the others were stuck in a tactical jail
- Inisherin perhaps the most visually impressive Group 1 winner of an action-packed Royal Ascot
- Being shoved aside and forced to improvise proves a blessing for You Got To Me
- There are brighter days ahead for beaten July Cup favourite Inisherin but River Tiber is one to worry about
- Why so downbeat? Let's celebrate City Of Troy's rare double - his fans had little to worry about
- Once the Ballydoyle runners asserted themselves in the Irish Derby the others were stuck in a tactical jail
- Inisherin perhaps the most visually impressive Group 1 winner of an action-packed Royal Ascot