'She’d eat you out of house and home' - Champion Bumper winner Bambino Fever in rude health as she nears hurdles debut

Unbeaten Champion Bumper heroine Bambino Fever has thrived over the summer and could make her debut over hurdles at Naas on Monday, her co-owner Willie Morgan has said. 

Bambino Fever gave Jody Townend her first Cheltenham winner when storming home in the bumper in March, the duo following up in the Punchestown equivalent the following month. She then enjoyed her summer break from trainer Willie Mullins' Closutton yard back at the farm belonging to Morgan's father.

“She probably did too well over summer, hence why we haven't seen her,” laughed Morgan, who co-owns the mare with Declan O’Connell. “She came back to my father’s place on grass with the cattle. She just got very strong and put on plenty of weight. All in good areas, it’s not a criticism of her.

“I know Ruby Walsh commented on her before her win at Punchestown, with his exact words being that she 'looked rather round'. She’s just that kind of mare. The more you gallop her, the more she eats and the better she does. She’d eat you out of house and home. But she hasn’t missed any training, or it’s not that she has had any setbacks. She has been back at Willie’s since Galway.”

The O'Connell Morgan Syndicate celebrate in the Cheltenham winner's enclosureCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The four-year-old is towards the top of the market for several of the novice hurdles at the festival, but Morgan said: “I haven’t a clue if she will go the mares-only route. I suppose it will depend on how she goes [before then]. I imagine she'll run in a maiden hurdle and then maybe go straight to the Dublin Racing Festival [DRF]. That’s basically what she did last year. 

“If she does well in her maiden hurdle, she'll probably take on the geldings at the DRF, and that will tell a lot. At the moment, I don’t know, and we leave it to Willie. Willie always says, 'Let the mare tell us'.” 

Morgan hails from a family steeped in racing tradition, with his father a former amateur jockey and his cousin Hugh a current professional. The Fethard man says he has owned parts of horses in the past, but never had success on the scale that Bambino Fever has brought. 

He said: “To this day, myself and Declan ask each other if we are living in a dream. “I've owned a few horses before with other people, but without a whole pile of success.

“I’ll never forget her win at Cheltenham. I couldn’t eat or drink all day, I was a bag of nerves, and it was the last race on the card. We were absolutely delighted to give Jody Townend her first Cheltenham winner.”

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