They’re up the walls down in Carlow.
The Irish National Hunt season has been tipping along for the last few weeks but it only really gets into full swing with the Listowel festival in early September and the Grade One James Nicholson Chase in Down Royal at the beginning of November.
So for now, it’s all hands on deck down in Closutton, county Carlow. The 2017/2018 jumps season saw Willie Mullins make a late charge to pass Gordon Elliott at the top of the Irish Champion trainer ranks for the year at the 11th hour.
The 61-year-old maestro timed his run to perfection, pipping the Navan based trainer late on after an explosive week in Punchestown where everything seemed to come good for the yard.
That would be his 12th Irish champion trainers crown and now he’s hungry for more, now he’s in the hunt for a 13th one.
In reality, the season never ends for a man like Willie Mullins. He delivered a fascinating insight into his mindset on the very last day of the last National Hunt season when, in response to a question from the Voice of Irish racing Gary O’Brien, Mullins revealed that he wouldn’t be taking any holidays and that he would instead be focusing on how best to prepare his crop for the following year.
“I’m not sure I’m one for long holidays. I find it so hard to take up the thread again when I come back…It (success) comes with a lot of hard work, but that’s the trade, and if you want to be good at something, you’ve got to go for what you want,” he said on At The Races.
Now those preparations are in full swing. The horses are out on the gallops, putting in the hard yards that we know pay off so well on those sunny, summer days.
But now Mullins is looking for some more man-power.
“We are hiring,” he wrote on his Twitter account. “Riders and groundstaff wanted to join us this Winter. Experience with racehorses and riding ability is important.”
We are hiring! Riders and groundstaff wanted to join us this Winter. Experience with racehorses and riding ability is important. Email: [email protected]
— Willie Mullins (@WillieMullinsNH) August 24, 2018
All you’ve to do is send an email outlining your credentials for the job to the email address, [email protected]. Yard staff get through a lot of work, from cleaning out houses, to riding out to looking after other aspect on the day to day running of the stables.
If you’re interested in horses, or know of anybody interested in same down in the sunny-south-east this might be the opportunity they’re looking for.
