A new name shot to the head of the ante-post market for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the weekend, with the Willie Mullins-trained It’s For Me winning by 10 lengths at Navan.
The son of Jeu St Eloi (himself a son of Saints des Saints) had carried the two-toned green silks of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede to success in a four-year-old maiden Point last April, when trained by Stuart Crawford. Coming from a long way off the pace, he made up an enormous amount of ground to lead at the last, before pulling 8 lengths clear and the form has worked out well. Whilst the runner-up has yet to run for Gordon Elliott, third home Rock My Way won next time before running a huge race on Rules debut at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day (beaten by Weveallbeencaught), whilst the fourth Kayf Legend won a Stratford bumper in early-October.
Ridden more prominently on Saturday, the chestnut travelled with ease and made smooth headway to lead – still on the bridle – on the run to two out. Without having to have been asked any sort of real question by Patrick Mullins, he eased clear to record a comprehensive success. With My Trump Card a non-runner, it could be that the form doesn’t amount to a great deal – and it might be a case of visual impression over substance of form – although the fourth home, Run For Harry, was beaten 15 lengths, having earlier finished just over 9 lengths behind Better Days Ahead and Chapeau de Soleil, both of whom featured in the latest update. It’s For Me is now a best-price 5-1 to provide trainer Willie Mullins with a fourth successive win in the race and a 13th Champion Bumper in all.
Interestingly, Patrick Mullins seemed keen to give Chapeau de Soleil a positive update when interviewed by Gina Bryce on Sky Sports Racing last week, suggesting that he will run again in the coming weeks. He doesn’t hold an entry in the Grade 2 at the Dublin Racing Festival on Saturday week and given how keenly he raced on Rules debut, perhaps keeping at a lower-level ahead of Cheltenham will prove to be a wise move.
Mullins is still responsible for six of the 16 entries for that upcoming Grade 2, with Westport Cove another fairly recent winner to catch the eye. The Muhtathir gelding refused to settle early on, but was much more relaxed once Patrick Mullins allowed him to stride on with a circuit to run and is another who moved well throughout the contest. Chosen Witness and Fact To File were winners for the stable over the Festive period and it will be interesting to see who Patrick opts to ride, with the past three winners of that race (all trained by Mullins) being Appreciate It, Kilcruit and Facile Vega.
Gordon Elliott took the 2019 renewal of that Goffs Future Stars INH Flat Race with subsequent Champion Bumper winner Envoi Allen and he, too, is well represented at early-entry stage. The aforementioned Better Days Ahead is one of four entries from Cullentra House, whilst Thomas Mullins’ impressive Leopardstown winner Fascile Mode (again, flagged up in the latest update) is another intriguing entry. This race could be extremely informative.
Domestically, expensive purchase Willmount made a winning start under Rules for Neil Mulholland at Doncaster in mid-January. It didn’t appear to be an overly strong race on paper beforehand, but the Blue Bresil five-year-old ran out a taking winner and might be one for the Listed race at Newbury next month, given that he copes well with soft ground.
Oliver Sherwood’s Queens Gamble remains to be the only English-trained contender anywhere near the summit of the Champion Bumper market and she was due to bid to complete the hat-trick at Market Rasen on Tuesday. Sadly, that meeting – which was originally due to take place last Friday – was again lost to the weather and at the time of writing, there has been no talk of the Listed Alan Swinbank Bumper being relocated to another track. Last year’s race was staged at Cheltenham on trials day, but due to that fixture already hosting two additional races – the Clarence House and a cross-country contest – there seems to be little chance of a repeat. It could be that she is forced to head to Cheltenham without having another run.