I think he just put himself in the superstar category — to do what he did and the way he did it. The loose horse was there and Paul was just so positive on him. Hopefully we can come back next year to win a third one — he has the ability to do it and we just have to stay sound, I think. He’s doing everything right and is achieving more than I thought he could. It was great to win a Gold Cup last year and we were crossing our fingers this year that if we got him there safe and sound, he’d have every chance of winning and he’s just done that. But you can only dream about these kinds of things. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sat, 1st Feb, 2025 (1st)  Paul has huge faith in him and said he was just going to jump out and go with him,. I thought we might make it with Embassy Gardens. There were four or five upsides him jumping the first but he had burned them off by the time he got to the third. He just jumped and galloped for three miles and it didn’t look like he was stopping coming up to the winning post. He’s just a real champion. They were all taking him on, there were plenty of horses up there and there was no diminishing the pace at all during the whole race. It was an out-and-out stayers race. I was focused on the race and getting over the last and everyone in front of me in the stands stood up so I couldn’t see, so I was trying to watch the television. I was trying to watch and see if there was something coming out of the clouds, but sure enough, when I got to see him again, he was clear. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sat, 1st Feb, 2025 (1st)  Paul has huge faith in him and said he was just going to jump out and go with him. I thought we might make it with Embassy Gardens. There were four or five upsides him jumping the first but he had burned them off by the time he got to the third. He just jumped and galloped for three miles and it didn’t look like he was stopping coming up to the winning post. He’s just a real champion. They were all taking him on, they were plenty of horses up there and there was no diminishing the pace at all during the whole race. It was an out-and-out stayers race. I was focused on the race and getting over the last and everything in front of me in the stands stood up so I couldn’t see so I was trying to watch the television. I was trying to watch and see if there was something coming out of the clouds, but sure enough when I got to see him again he was clear. I thought Fact To File would be a bit closer, but Mark (Walsh) was happy that he had settled well and was going to leave him settled and have one go at him, and that’s what he did. He only finished third in the end. W P Mullins

Sat, 28th Dec, 2024  That was some performance. He put in some fantastic jumps and to win the way he did after giving the other horse a lead the whole way was one of the best performances I have ever seen around here. It’s frightening to think he could still be improving and hopefully he hasn’t left his whole season behind him, but what a great day and a great atmosphere with people all around the parade ring. He’s done it the hard way and jumped out in front today. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sat, 28th Dec, 2024 (1st)  That was some performance. He put in some fantastic jumps and to win the way he did after giving the other horse a lead the whole way was one of the best performances I have ever seen around here. It’s frightening to think he could still be improving and hopefully he hasn’t left his whole season behind him, but what a great day and a great atmosphere with people all around the parade ring. He’s done it the hard way and jumped out in front today. W P Mullins

After race at Cheltenham Fri, 15th Mar, 2024 (1st)  I think he just put himself in the superstar category – to do what he did and the way he did it. The loose horse was there and Paul was just so positive on him. Hopefully we can come back next year to win a third one – he has the ability to do it and we just have to stay sound, I think. He’s doing everything right and is achieving more than I thought he could. It was great to win a Gold Cup last year and we were crossing our fingers this year that if we got him there safe and sound, he’d have every chance of winning and he’s just done that. But you can only dream about these kinds of things. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sat, 3rd Feb, 2024 (1st)  It was a terrific performance. He did it the hard way, out in front and jumped from fence to fence. He didn’t wait around for anyone and did everything right. Paul was very happy with him. He set his own pace, which is hard to do on soft ground. Paul made sure that he was going to go fast enough and try to suck the energy out of the ones behind, which he did. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sat, 3rd Feb, 2024 (1st)  It was a terrific performance. He did it the hard way, out in front and jumped from fence to fence. He didn't wait around for anyone and did everything right. Paul was very happy with him. He set his own pace which is hard to do on soft ground. Paul made sure that he was going to go fast enough and try and suck the energy out of the ones behind, which he did. We thought Conflated might make the running but from the early stages we knew that wasn't the way. Paul just had to grab the race by the horns, he did and it worked out. I thought for a minute from the fifth last to the third last that JJ Slevin's body language was looking very good and he was confident in the horse he was riding. When Paul poured a little bit on and got a great jump at the second last you could see the distress signals coming out and Paul was still happy. He was able to dictate in front. Gold Cups are always important and it's nice to win another one for Greg and Audrey (Turley). It's tremendous prize-money and a tremendous day here in Leopardstown. Some people think it's a trial for Cheltenham but for me it's a race in it's own right. They need to be respected and raced for. I bring my best horses here to do that. I thought I'd never have a horse good enough to run in the race, never mind win it different years but that's the way the thing has grown and we're very lucky. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Thu, 28th Dec, 2023 (1st)  Paul was keen to change tactics today, he wanted to bounce out and let him enjoy himself over the first few fences. I said 'let's do that' because the last twice he was beaten and things didn't work out. I think the horse gave it back to Paul. When I saw him jumping the first the way he did I thought 'right game on here today'. He fiddled a few fences after that but Paul was very happy at all stages and he showed his absolute stamina in the the way he galloped away from the third last, down over the second last and then up over the last. He put everything to bed coming around the last bend. I was hugely impressed by him. I didn't know what to expect as his work had been a little bit indifferent at home. We tried a few different things with him and obviously they must have worked. We had no winner the first day and people were wondering were things not going to happen for us over Christmas. Things came right on the second day and it's been really good today as well. We had Appreciate It in the race, Capodanno and I Am Maximus, all Gold Cup standard horses and you never know whats's going to fire on the day. It's like a player going out to play a rugby or hurling match, the ball has to bounce for them. This fella just made the ball bounce for himself today. Take him out and you still had a fantastic race, but he looked a class ahead of them. He put everything together, he really enjoyed himself, and Paul made the right decision to get him out early, get him up there and let him W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Thu, 28th Dec, 2023 (1st)  Paul was keen to change tactics today, he wanted to bounce out and let him enjoy himself over the first few fences. I said ‘let’s do that’ because the last twice he was beaten and things didn’t work out. I think the horse gave it back to Paul. When I saw him jumping the first the way he did I thought ‘right, game on here today’. He fiddled a few fences after that but Paul was very happy at all stages and he showed his absolute stamina in the the way he galloped away from the third-last, down over the second-last and then up over the last. He put everything to bed coming around the last bend. I was hugely impressed by him. I didn’t know what to expect as his work had been a little bit indifferent at home. We tried a few different things with him and obviously they must have worked. We had no winner the first day and people were wondering were things not going to happen for us over Christmas. Things came right on the second day and it’s been really good today as well. We had Appreciate It in the race, Capodanno and I Am Maximus, all Gold Cup standard horses and you never know what’s going to fire on the day. It’s like a player going out to play a rugby or hurling match, the ball has to bounce for them. This fella just made the ball bounce for himself today. Take him out and you still had a fantastic race, but he looked a class ahead of them. He put everything together, he really enjoyed himself, and Paul made the right W P Mullins

After race at Cheltenham Fri, 17th Mar, 2023 (1st)  I didn’t realise the pressure I was under. I’m absolutely delighted for Audrey Turley (owner), Paul was under huge pressure too and gave him a peach of a ride. The plan was to drop him in and come through, I said to him ‘I think you’re on the best horse, the fastest horse, so as long as he doesn’t get running with you just tuck him in somewhere and put him asleep’ — and he did. It just worked out, he gave him a brilliant, cool ride. Everyone was questioning the distance and his stamina, they were going to make it plenty fast so I didn’t want him up there in the early exchanges. If he has the class, he’ll come through, if he hasn’t then there’s no point. All the thoughts go through your head, have we gone too far back? They had gone such a gallop, something had to give. One or two fell and we missed all that, we’d a lot of luck. I think that man on board, when the pressure comes on, he’s very good. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sat, 4th Feb, 2023 (1st)  He was very professional and Paul was happy where he was throughout the race. He was happy that he was settled coming through. He said after the race that he had plenty in the tank and he was never worried at any time during the race about where he was. He seemed to gallop away through the line. He looks a real good horse. Hopefully we can build on that now over an extra two furlongs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup (7/4 fav from 11/8 with Paddy Power). I was amazed that the press were doubting the fact that he had never won over three miles over fences. He had won over three miles as a novice over hurdles which is way harder than doing it over fences. To me he can go four miles. What I love about him now is that he's settling, he's not keen and Paul is able to put him wherever he wants him in a race. That's crucial for tactics going forward. He used to be a little keen over shorter trips but now he just settles and he's able to put him asleep. I think it's just maturity, he's matured in his mind and he's settling into being a proper racehorse. We're more relaxed training him now, we know he has gears. I was always confident that he'd stay and we probably don't do as much speed work with him nowadays. We've had some fabulous horses win the Gold Cup here. This fella is making a name for himself, he's still young in steeplechasing terms and where he'll be at the end of his career, we'll see. It's all going forward at the moment anyway. A lot of people skip this race to go for Chelten W P Mullins

After race at Punchestown Mon, 19th Dec, 2022 (1st)  he was more relaxed and settled well. I was delighted when he came past the winning post the first time around there was a loop in the reins. When Paul wanted a big jump he gave it to him and when he went in close he was able to do that. There was a lot of positives to take out of today. To go away from a four-time Grade 1 winner (Fakid D'oudairies) over that trip was very good. It looks like he’ll be able to play in the senior ranks and I’m looking forward to his next run. We thought there would be a front-runner and we were happy enough to tuck in behind that front-runner. You always want to be teaching him. I’ve no plan at the moment where he will run next but he will have another run before Cheltenham. He is a Gold Cup horse and is going for the Gold Cup bar something goes wrong. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Sun, 6th Feb, 2022 (1st)  I wasn't as happy with his jumping as I was at Christmas but then Paul said it was a Grade 1 pace today. Bryan Cooper got down off my other horse and said the same thing, they were going so fast. Paul said he didn't want to let him down to jump fences the way he did at Christmas otherwise he would maybe have been in front too early, on softer ground, so he held on to him a bit longer. He didn't go with them a few times and the horse was very brave and I was wondering how long that was going to last. They finished together, which is good, and both would have learned a lot from today's run against real stiff company. The horses behind him were really good horse, Grade 1 winners. When they jumped the second-last I said 'is there anything going well' and you could see all the jockeys were sort of nudging. I said 'Paul is still going well, all you've got to do now is jump the last' and that's what happened. My heart was in my mouth jumping those fences down the back whereas at Christmas I was waiting for another fence to come up because he was really pinging fences. Paul didn't want to let him do that today, he tried to teach him something. We'll just try and keep him right now and then decide where we are going to go. A lot of things can happen between now and Cheltenham. Hopefully we are sound and well the week before Cheltenham and we'll know then what's happening. W P Mullins

After race at Leopardstown Tue, 28th Dec, 2021 (1st)  He was very impressive. I thought he was good but I didn't think he was that good, that was just something else. He was so effortless over all his fences. Paul said he was fantastic early on and at a few that he met short he just danced in front of his fences and took them at his stride. He did everything right and galloped away through the line and beyond it. He looks a very very exciting horse for the future, especially going over a trip. He's five going six so he's very young. All options are open for him. W P Mullins

After race at Punchestown Wed, 28th Apr, 2021 (1st)  I was in front a hell of a lot earlier than I anticipated — I won’t say too soon because he’s won — though definitely a lot sooner than I thought I would be. He looked very smart today stepping up to three miles. Paul gave him a squeeze going to the third last, he took off and the race was over coming around the last bend. Greg and Audrey Turley have touched on a nice horse here. They’ve had two runners at Cheltenham, this horse and Burning Victory who won the Triumph Hurdle last year. Two from two is not a bad record but it’s going to be hard to keep that up. Paul said he could be a Stayers Hurdle candidate for next year. However, I like to get them going chasing quickly so we’ll have that conversation later in the summer. I wouldn’t mind going chasing with him anyway. W P Mullins