11 January 2023 , 17:08
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Emmet Mullins will send Randox Grand National winner Noble Yeats to Lingfield a week on Sunday in the hope he can avoid bumping into a horse trained by his uncle Willie Mullins or Gordon Elliott.
He has identified the £165,000 Fleur de Lys Chase, the feature race on the final day of the three day Winter Million meeting, as his stable star’s final start before he takes a shot at the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.
“All going well we’re heading for Lingfield, that’s the plan at the moment,” said Co Carlow-based Mullins.
“Maybe half the reason we’re going to Lingfield is so we don’t have to take on Willie and Gordon here. We pick and choose our races I think fairly well and try to get the most out of them.”
Noble Yeats, still a novice when he won at Aintree in April at 50-1, showed he could be better than a handicapper with wins at Wexford and last time out in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree since when he has been cut to 7-1 by William Hill for the Gold Cup.
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“The Gold Cup was on the radar for this year from the get-go,” Mullins said. “I definitely wouldn’t rule him out of the Gold Cup. It’s a stayer’s race and I can compare him to something like Hedgehunter, who won the Grand National and was second in a Gold Cup afterwards.”
He added: “We’re still heading for the National and I suppose after our performance in the Many Clouds in Aintree, we won’t be looked after too well in the weights, but I think a horse like him grows in that scenario and I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t fancy our chances going back again.”