Punchestown Wed, 1st May, 2024  Fastorslow To win it last year was a bit of a shock, but to win it two years in a row is something that can probably never be repeated again. We have to enjoy every second. In a lifetime you could have a hundred horses and never have a horse like him. Martin is an extraordinary man to care for a horse and had him spot on today. He’s turned up in just as good a shape (as last year) and possibly even better. JJ said he was running away with him for the first mile. He’s the best horse that I’ve ever had.

Fairyhouse Mon, 1st Apr, 2024  MacDermott He's been running over trips that were too short for him but we couldn't find races for him. Today was the first time he got his ground and trip. He's a horse that I'd be really looking forward to going over extended trips in the future, in some of the those bigger handicaps. . He could be an Irish National horse or one for Aintree, any of those extended races.

Cheltenham Thu, 14th Mar, 2024  Protektorat We’ve been trying the Gold Cup trip because we’ve been trying to make it happen, it’s the race the owners would most like to win. We dropped him in and he finished third and we rode him more aggressively and he finished fifth. He wasn’t hitting the Gold Cup standard this year, so we’ve come for this and I thought Harry gave him a supreme ride. When Envoi Allen came upsides us I thought he’s danced this dance a lot of times and maybe we’re booked for second, but then going to the last I thought we’d found a bit more, maybe that’s that stamina that we’ve been filling him with for the last few years. It’s a massive family thing and the work that the staff put in is phenomenal. I don’t know what the magic dust was this week. What’s going on here is what we all try to do, it just very rarely happens. The Ryanair Chase is one of the biggies. Grey Dawning is a Grade One novice with a lot to look forward to and with the handicappers you’ve got to place them well, but this is one of the grails isn’t it?. Two Grade Ones at Cheltenham on one day, it doesn’t happen.

Cheltenham Thu, 14th Mar, 2024  Monmiral A couple have run ordinary the last couple of days, but it’s tough here and they basically weren’t good enough on the day. I thought Ginny’s Destiny would win today and he ran a blinder, and this horse has loads of ability. We’ve been trying to make a chaser out of him, he didn’t like it and I just thought I’d qualify for him for this race at Chepstow a couple of weeks ago and he actually needed the run that day. I thought he’d run OK today, I didn’t necessarily expect him to win. I told Harry to give him plenty of space as he’s a bit timid and doesn’t like to be boxed in and he gave him a beautiful ride. He’s had loads of problems and didn’t want to jump fences. Today worked out really well. Whether the blinkers made a difference or not I don’t know, but he’s obviously come back to himself a little bit.