If sentiment could have thawed the frost then Hurricane Fly's epic Ryanair Hurdle defeat of Jezki would have seen Leopardstown swamped. But it is the legendary champion's dogged refusal to fit into any cosy sentimental role that perhaps yet will define the future of one of the great horses.
Having extended his unbeaten Leopardstown record to nine, and his world-record Grade tally to 21, the rejuvenated Hurricane Fly’s popularity has if anything got more pronounced on the back of his powers appearing to be waning at the end of last season.
There’s nothing like an old champ on a supposed last-hurrah roll to pluck at the emotions and a second Grade 1 defeat of the Champion Hurdle title-holder Jezki this term makes Willie Mullins’s superstar a natural fit for “national treasure” status.
That’s often a death-knell to relevance, something apparently reflected in Champion Hurdle odds for March which remain largely unchanged with Jezki still half of Hurricane Fly’s odds and Mullins’s new superstar Faugheen as low as evens favourite.
True legend
It’s a reflection of Hurricane Fly’s ability that he is a double-Champion Hurdle winner while having never shown his best at Cheltenham. Maybe the bookmakers are banking on that, and the fact that Hattons Grace (1951) and Sea Pigeon (1981) are the only 11-year-olds to win hurdling’s championship, but presumption can be costly around true legends.
Plenty went wrong for Hurricane Fly on this occasion: frost meant a switch to Leopardstown's inside track placing an emphasis on speed which supposedly favoured Jezki, and a shadow at the first flight resulted in an extravagant jump which gave Hurricane Fly a fright which in turn resulted in a couple of other less than fluent jumps.
In the circumstances the old soldier could have been forgiven for adopting a “not today” attitude to the job of chasing down Jezki from the second last but that’s not what exceptional champions are made of.
Hurricane Fly has always been proof that sporting greatness doesn’t have to come coated in niceness.
Vortex of motion
As the 10,265-strong Leopardstown crowd strained to acclaim him afterward, the centre-of-attention was a vortex of leery, irritable motion, looking sideways to see if anything or anyone might be in range of his lashing back-legs. Photographers, by now well used to Hurricane Fly, almost had to be as quick on their feet as Hurricane Fly was in the race to avoid them.
This is not a horse which can be described in any cuddly terms but it contributes to a package that Mullins is not alone as regarding as unique.
“He’s the best I’ve trained. He’s the best hurdler anyone’s probably ever trained,” he said, confirming ‘The Fly’ will attempt to make it a perfect 10 around Leopardstown in next month’s BHP Irish Champion Hurdle.
“Faugheen is eight out of eight so far but he has a long way to go. This horse is unique,” he said
It’s a combination of class and longevity but also a remarkable grit which makes Hurricane Fly unique and it meant even Jezki’s slightly quicker jump at the last couldn’t allow him to repel the 5-6 favourite whose stable companion Arctic Fire ran a huge race in third.
“People go on about Frankel being a wonder horse for two years but how long is this fella coming here?” asked Ruby Walsh, who may yet face an enviably agonising Champion Hurdle choice. “Willie is modest but to keep a horse going for 21 Grade 1’s is phenomenal.”
The ability to confound expectations characterises many champions and those writing off Hurricane Fly’s chance of a third Champion Hurdle now are probably the same ones who wrote him off last season.
“I was asked if he’d retire but he’d had two less than good runs. Every horse is allowed that. And he showed at home he still has the zest for racing,” Mullins said. “No horse I’ve ever seen battles like him.”
It’s what makes ‘The Fly’ still very relevant indeed.
