Beleaguered Mullins bounces back Willie Mullins is in the midst of a 24-hour ‘storm’ at present but the Champion Trainer won the I.N.H. Stallion Owners EBF Maiden Hurdle at Naas today with Augustin, some 15 minutes following the Grade 1 win of Un De Sceaux at Cheltenham. Mullins’ stop-start season has been curtailed by injury to his star performers and having taken novice chaser Min out of tomorrow’s Grade 1 novice chase at Leopardstown, also today scratched Faugheen from tomorrow’s Irish Champion Hurdle. Augustin, a grey son of Martaline and ridden today by Danny Mullins, improved into contention from the second last and in the end galloped to a three lengths win over Miss Mardan. Mullins later commented “I was very pleased with him (Augustin) - he made hard work of it but I think he’ll improve an awful lot for it. I didn’t know he was ready enough to win so to do that on 2m3f on that ground means an Albert Bartlett entry and that’s where he might go. He’ll improve because he has very little done.” By Tom Weekes
