Willie Mullins felt beforehand that he had a fair chance of winning his second King George VI Chase here. What scarcely crossed his mind was that it might arrive thanks to Tornado Flyer and his nephew, Danny Mullins, who came home nine lengths clear of Clan Des Obeaux at 28-1, the biggest starting price for a winner in the race's 84-year history.
“I was totally surprised,” Mullins, who watched the race at Leopardstown, said. "John Turner, who has a share in the horse, was on to me to bring him over because he wanted a runner at Kempton on Boxing Day, and I said: 'Why not?' But I didn't dream we were going for a win. The instructions I gave Danny were to ride from the back and get all the prize money you can."
Several of the favourites, including Minella Indo, last season's Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, and Chantry House, the 3-1 favourite, were well below their best but there was no real sense of fluke about Tornado Flyer's success and he probably had the race already won when Asterion Forlonge, the first string in the Mullins team, fell at the last when he still had at least two lengths to find.
This story is from the December 27, 2021 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the December 27, 2021 edition of The Guardian.
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