'It's heartbreaking' - Group 1 winner Princess Zoe leaves Tony Mullins after row with owner

Tony Mullins has spoken of his heartbreak at watching Princess Zoe leave his yard on Monday after a shock move by owner Paddy Kehoe to take the Group 1-winning mare out of his care.

According to Mullins, the reason for the split is down to a disagreement over the Galway Hurdle. Kehoe claims it is down to the mare's recent health issues.

Speaking to the Racing Post on Tuesday, Mullins said: "Paddy was mad keen to go for the Galway Hurdle, but I wasn't. I've always wanted to do the best thing by the mare and I don't think going for the Galway Hurdle would be doing the best thing by her. I don't think the race would suit her and I don't think the Easyfix hurdles would suit her either.

"Paddy is a jumping man and he wants her to be aimed at Galway. He now owns the mare on his own after buying the share that his sister Philomena [Crampton] had. He wanted to go to Galway, but I didn't."

He added: "She's just not a hurdling type. I was never keen on her going hurdling but she was bought to go jumping at the very start and then she won at Punchestown. I thought she ran very well in the mares' novice hurdle at Cheltenham too.

"But then she ran at Fairyhouse and Danny [Mullins] said she didn't want to know about it after jumping the first. She wasn't enjoying it at all and that confirmed my suspicions that she just doesn't enjoy hurdling. She has a few issues too, which contribute to that as well.

"I would hate to see her running in a Galway Hurdle and for something to happen to her in that. That would break my heart."

'The Galway Hurdle was never mentioned'

Kehoe, however, claimed the reason for the split with Mullins was nothing to do with the Galway Hurdle.

He said: "The Galway Hurdle was never mentioned, the fallout is about Zoe's health.

"Before the race at Fairyhouse, bloods were taken by an expert who said that she should not run. Tony's reply was that she had run before with similar bloods and that made me think she was running in other races with these problems."

He added: “My intention at the time was that she would go to Coolmore to be covered by a Flat stallion, but it was too late for her to be covered so I was thinking of keeping her in training for another [season], but not with Tony Mullins."

Mullins responded to these claims and said: "Zoe's bloods hadn't fully recovered from Cheltenham, but there was no suitable race for her at Punchestown so we all agreed to run at Fairyhouse."

Princess Zoe: grabbed the public's attention by winning at GalwayCredit: Patrick McCann

Princess Zoe arrived from Germany in 2020 and, after finishing second in a 1m5f handicap at Navan in June of that year on her debut for Mullins off a mark of 64, she went on to win the Ladies Derby at the Curragh.

The Galway summer festival was where she really grabbed the public's attention as she won the prestigious Connacht Hotel Handicap under Finny Maguire and later in the same week she won her second premier handicap at Ballybrit under Joey Sheridan, who formed a terrific relationship with the mare.

Her winning spree did not stop there as she returned to Galway in September to land the Listed Oyster Stakes before going on to register a famous success in the Group 1 Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend at Longchamp.

Princess Zoe was second in the 2021 Ascot Gold Cup to Subjectivist and won last year's Sagaro Stakes at Ascot. She has earned just shy of €500,000 in prize-money and won nine of her 37 career outings as well as being placed on 11 other occasions.

Mullins added: "It's been a tough morning for everybody here. It's heartbreaking to see her go. My feed man came in at half six and he just said it was so sad passing her empty stable. She was the life and soul of this place. She was the one who put the spring in your step when you went out to the yard every morning."

Princess Zoe won the 2020 Prix du Cadran for jockey Joey Sheridan and trainer Tony MullinsCredit: Edward Whitaker

Back in March, Kehoe aired his frustration on Twitter after Princess Zoe finished fifth to You Wear It Well at Cheltenham, replying to a tweet sent by Mullins suggesting she ran well and, but for a mistake at the last, she would have been in the first three. He tweeted: "What a load of rubbish. You did not give proper instructions to jockey who will never ride Zoe again."

Some posts on social media suggest Princess Zoe is on her way to Paul Nolan. Kehoe already has Little Soiree in training with him.

When contacted by the Racing Post about Princess Zoe's whereabouts, Nolan said: "There's a grey filly in my yard all right, but it's Little Soiree rather than Princess Zoe. She could run at Kilbeggan on Friday. Princess Zoe is not in my yard at the moment anyway."

Read these next:

'We've collected a goose along the way' - bizarre incident as favourite collides with bird 

Extraordinary moment at Newmarket start as Ryan Moore caught up in another rider's equipment 

Tom Segal tipped 1,000 Guineas winner Mawj at 20-1 - subscribe now with 50% off and don't miss out on a massive month for Pricewise 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.