'I turned down Denman' - Willie Mullins reveals he could have trained 'The Tank'

Willie Mullins had to wait until Al Boum Photo in 2019 to end his Cheltenham Gold Cup hoodoo but the drought would have ended 11 years earlier had he not been so picky about the horses who arrived in his yard. He was offered Denman and turned him down. Perish the thought.

Speaking in a major interview for Sunday's Racing Post, the most successful trainer in Cheltenham Festival history explained how 'The Tank' could have been in Closutton had it not been for one major, albeit now minor, issue which put him off.

Mullins said: "I've turned down some good horses over the years. I turned down Denman because he was hobdayed!"

Willie Mullins: 'I've turned down some good horses over the years'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Reliving the tale, he continued: "I rang Tom O'Mahony the following year after he had won his novice hurdle by half the track and I said to him, 'Why didn't you ring me about him?'

"'I did,' he said. 'I told you he was hobdayed and you told me to f*** off!' That's exactly what happened."

Mullins is not so quick to ignore horses who have had breathing operations these days, but still spoke of his reluctance to tamper with horses' wind.

He said: "Nowadays I'd buy a hobdayed horse, whereas that time I wouldn't at all. I thought at the time that it was hard enough to train sound ones, never mind horses who had been hobdayed. I think hobday operations and all those wind operations have improved hugely over the years.

Denman: 'He could pick you up and chuck you out the box or take your arm off'

"That said, I often wonder whether horses need to be operated on. Lots of people do it on horses when they are very young and that could be just immaturity. It's an ongoing debate. Other people think, 'Let's operate on their wind first before we do anything else', but I've always been the slowest to do it. I don't like going at something until you are sure there is no other avenue."

As regards Denman, we all know what happened next. He went on to become one of the greatest staying chasers of the modern era for Paul Nicholls, winning the Hennessy Gold Cup off top weight in 2007 and 2009 with a relentless galloping performance in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup sandwiched in between. Hard luck, Willie.

Read more from Willie Mullins in The Big Read, available online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Click here to sign up.

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'I wish I had him in better order' – Willie Mullins' concern over Al Boum Photo

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