It’s not been a good week for Rich Ricci and Willie Mullins and boy do they know it.
The Leopardstown Christmas Festival has been described as an ‘extraordinarily challenging week’ by Rich Ricci, whose horses are trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins.
On Thursday, the racing world was rocked by the news of Nichols Canyon’s death following a bad fall. The horse came down at the fifth flight of the Squared Financial Christmas Hurdle and sadly had to be put down.
The very next day, Mullins and Ricci watched on as 11/2 Faugheen was pulled up and dismounted during the Ryanair Hurdle. Faugheen had only lost one race prior to today when it was beaten by former stablemate Nichols Canyon.in the 2015 Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown.
Faugheen dismounted and being walked back by Paul Townend… pic.twitter.com/6prCxDAwkA
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 29, 2017
Favourite Faugheen was soundly beaten by winner Mick Jazz in the Ryanair Hurdle. Jockey Paul Townend pulled the horse up before the second last fence after it had fallen completely out of the running.
After giving a positive update on Faugheen’s condition, Ricci didn’t sugarcoat what was an incredibly tough festival.
“Feels like a long, long winter. Cheltenham’s far away.”
Ricci gave a brutally honest breakdown of how his horses fared at the festival, which you can see in the video embedded below.
Always worth a few minutes – Rich Ricci reflects on a "long long winter" and today's "disaster" with Faugheen: pic.twitter.com/XfxZUlBpc2
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 29, 2017
