Hats off to Mullins and his Diamond dazzler

THIS space last week focused on one amazing Irish trainer, although there was a nod to another with a tip for Ethical Diamond, who showed just what wizardry Willie Mullins is capable of by winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Saturday.

- By JAMES BURN

Ethical Diamond, ridden by Dylan McMonagle, wins the Breeders' Cup Turf race at Del Mar, California

(Picture: Getty Images)

Aidan O'Brien, the main focus of the piece, did make Breeders’ Cup history by becoming the meeting's winning-most trainer despite being based on another continent, albeit it was a record equalled a day later by local Californian legend Bob Baffert.

It was an extraordinary achievement by O'Brien, but one overshadowed by Ethical Diamond, who went from finishing fourth in a handicap hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March to triumphing in one of flat racing's grandest middle-distance events.

He didn’t just win, he bolted up from a classy field which included Rebel's Romance, a two-time winner of the contest and Minne Hauk, the Oaks heroine who had swept almost all before her in Europe this term.