Ryanair's Michael O'Leary made sure he was among the first to stride over to Willie Mullins in the winners' enclosure after the racehorse training phenomenon made a stunning return to form at the Cheltenham festival.
The pair exchanged a cordial handshake and perhaps, after their well-publicised tiff over the fees Mullins charges for his service, a reconciliation will one day be on the cards.
O’Leary had gained the upper hand for the first half of this meeting, principally when his Apple’s Jade, one of around 60 horses he removed from Mullins’ care last September, beat the multiple Irish champion’s illustrious pair Vroum Vroum Mag and Limini in Tuesday’s Mares’ Hurdle.
The weather might have turned from glorious sunshine to a grey chill, but it was also the day the pendulum swung away from the bookmakers after a sequence of upsets.
Mullins and Ruby Walsh have been crowned top trainer and jockey at the festival for five of the last six years, and have run amok for the most recent two, becoming the tried-and-tested combination for the casual punter.
During the first two days, not to mention the rest of the Irish season, the vaults of the gamblers' Bank of Mullins had been locked as the trainer was usurped by the young and ambitious Gordon Elliott, the major benefactor as O'Leary divided the wealth of his Gigginstown House stud horses.
However, the cash was flowing back over the counter as soon as Yorkhill obliged as 6-4 favourite in the opening race, the first of what became a four-timer.
Sponsors
In an irony readily acknowledged by O’Leary, the Mullins-trained 7-4 chance Un de Sceaux denied his own horse Sub Lieutenant in the one race in the world he seems most eager to win – the one that his airline sponsors.
"I'm delighted for Willie and Ruby," said O'Leary. "I couldn't be happier, and there was a certain inevitability about Willie winning the Ryanair Chase. I think it's the fifth time I've finished second in it.
“After our fight over the fees, he still takes his money off me at Cheltenham. It’s history. We were apart, we couldn’t reach an agreement. Hopefully, we will do at some stage in the future.”
Mullins, who has remained remarkably dignified after such a trying time and refused to make any excuses, remarked: “If it wasn’t difficult to have winners it wouldn’t be any fun coming over here.”
It was fitting on the eve of St Patrick's Day, with the Arkle and Dawn Run statues at Cheltenham lit green as dusk fell, that the day belonged to Ireland. Irish runners had landed six of the seven races and are almost uncatchable in the annual battle against British-trained horses.
Hall of fame
One of them was owned by
Philip Reynolds
, the son of the late taoiseach Albert, who runs the C&D pet food business at Edgeworthstown, Co Longford.
“My father would have loved it,” he said. “I think about him every time I walk through the hall of fame here. He just adored this place and never had a runner. You’d never dream of having a winner.”
Reynolds has an unusual alliance with Galway-based trainer Pat Kelly which goes back more than 20 years. Kelly, who has only a few horses in his stable, must be doing something right as he prepared Mall Dini to win last year's fiendishly competitive Pertemps Final and repeated the trick with Presenting Percy, a present by Reynolds to his wife Anne.
