This horse works better than Ballyburn - but, as we all know, work doesn't win races
The record-breaking amateur rider looks forward to this week's action
It’s 1pm on the Monday of Cheltenham. We’ve finished riding out and we’re walking the horses at 2pm. I’m sitting at the kitchen table looking at Tuesday’s races. I’ve had to put jam in my porridge because I forgot to get honey. A bad start to the week.
Brian Hayes is shouting in from the living room that the house we’ve rented this year is too cold. Rachael Blackmore, rummaging in the fridge, replies that he’s more than welcome to find a different house next year so. Amazing how women can say so much in so little.
I sip my mug of tea. I kinda like the house. Great selection of books in the bookcase (Pullman’s His Dark Materials catches my eye), they have a chest of board games and an X Box with Crash Bandicoot too. Mightn’t suit Harry Cobden, but it’ll do me just fine.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inPatrick Mullins
Last updated
Copy- 'She's clearly knocked out. But her lips are also very pale, nearly blue. I begin to think something but then don't'
- 'I never dial myself down, so when I ride I still put on my mascara' - Patrick Mullins meets Aine O'Connor
- Four winners in four countries in five days and it ends with me feeling incredibly proud of my father - not that I say that to him
- When Patrick Mullins met Jack Kennedy: 'You could say I've been lucky - they're just broken bones and they heal'
- Game on for the trainers' title - but I'm watching from afar as my National dreams are soon dashed
- 'She's clearly knocked out. But her lips are also very pale, nearly blue. I begin to think something but then don't'
- 'I never dial myself down, so when I ride I still put on my mascara' - Patrick Mullins meets Aine O'Connor
- Four winners in four countries in five days and it ends with me feeling incredibly proud of my father - not that I say that to him
- When Patrick Mullins met Jack Kennedy: 'You could say I've been lucky - they're just broken bones and they heal'
- Game on for the trainers' title - but I'm watching from afar as my National dreams are soon dashed