In 1990 Mouse Morris saddled Trapper John to enter the Ryanair World Hurdle roll of honour. A lot has changed in the 26 years since, as the Co Tipperary-based trainer aims to win it again this afternoon with Alpha Des Obeaux.
Back then Michael O'Leary hadn't even joined Ryanair, never mind pondering sponsoring Cheltenham features or assembling the means of keeping the bulk of the sponsorship money. It wasn't the World Hurdle either, rather the Stayers Hurdle, with the accent on Stayers.
Three miles over flights requires stamina, but almost a quarter of a mile further, as the trip was in 1990, demanded it. That’s why Morris is reluctant to make comparisons between the old champion and his new hope.
“It was a real stayers race and Trapper John was a real stayer. It’s a better-class race now. Now you need to stay, but also have speed,” he says. “I’m confident this horse will stay all right but I know he has pace too. He has been placed in Grade Ones, after all.”
Three of them, in fact, including a pair at two and a half miles behind the top-class duo, Arctic Fire and Nicholls Canyon; Alpha Des Obeaux also still had Thistlecrack in his sights when taking a crashing fall at the final flight in Aintree last season.
Decent ground
The English favourite has progressed significantly since, but Morris reckons decent ground will aid his horse’s chances of keeping the bulk of the sponsorship money in the owner’s pocket.
And what Morris says has always been enough for O’Leary.
It is 10 years since Morris masterminded War Of Attrition’s Gold Cup success, which cemented the businessman’s love for jump racing.
It is 30 years since Buck House landed the two-mile champion chase at Cheltenham before a memorable head-to-head with Dawn Run that originally helped bring the little chestnut’s trainer to O’Leary’s attention.
And it was a decade prior to that when Morris enjoyed his greatest festival moment as a jockey, with Skymas landing the first of back-to-back Champion Chase titles.
In terms of lasting the distance – and the test of time – in a notoriously fickle business, Morris has plenty to teach about stamina, especially in terms of Cheltenham and good horses.
“There is not a better trainer in the British Isles to train a jumps record,” O’Leary once said, before typically adding a significant rider.
“He is a great trainer of a good horse. He’ll mind them till the cows come home and he knows how to train good horses. That said, he’s not the greatest trainer of a bad horse. Some guys are very good with bad horses, getting them handicapped. Mouse has no interest in training bad horses. But he is brilliant when you send him the right equipment,” he added.
Morris has long believed Alpha Des Obeaux to be such Grade One equipment and is adamant his future ultimately lies over fences. However, the class which saw him chase home Arctic Fire in this season’s Hatton’s Grace makes him a worthy contender for today’s feature. Should he win, it will be a hugely popular success.
Admired
The man christened Michael Morris, famously the son of the former
International Olympic Committee
president Lord Killanin, is as liked personally as he is admired professionally throughout much of racing.
It was why there was such emotion swirling around Listowel last September following Rogue Angel’s dramatic Kerry National victory. Just three months earlier, Morris’s son, Christopher, widely known as “Tiffer”, had died suddenly while on holiday in Argentina.
“He was doing what he was happy doing, seeing different places,” his devastated father said at the time.
The pain of such a loss is unimaginable to those fortunate enough not to have had to endure it and places the prospect of horses running around in a field in its proper trivial context.
But should Alpha Des Obeaux emerge victorious it is still likely to prove a very relevant moment for his trainer.
