Once labelled a ‘horse made of iron’ by his legendary trainer, who won his tenth Gr2 Clonmel Oil Chase on Thursday, the Hollywood Racing & Barnane Stud and partners owned multiple Gr1-winner Il Etait Temps waltzed home on his return to action at the Country Tipperary Racetrack, and now looks set for a tantalizing head-bumper with Jonbon in next month’s Gr1 Tingle Creek, for which Il Etait Temps is now the joint-favourite.
The extraordinary Willie Mullins set a new career high at Del Mar last Saturday with Ethical Diamond, his first ever Breeders’ Cup runner, and left with the $2m first prize in the BC Turf – interestingly, nearly five times as much as he banked when Nick Rockett landed the Grand National in April!
But Thursday belonged to popular little grey Il Etait Temps who was last seen out six months back when winning the Celebration Chase at Sandown in April ahead of the Nicky Henderson-trained Jonbon, an effort made even more notable as it came after a lengthy injury-enforced absence.
Starting a red-hot odds-on fancy under Paul Townend on Thursday, the grey bomber took on three opponents, headed by former Irish Grand National hero Intense Raffles and Topham winner Gentleman De, but both failed to land a blow and it was Phillip Enright’s 22-1 chance Senecia who came home a well-beaten runner-up as Il Etait Temps triumphed by 18 lengths.
Townend said: “He was very settled early on, and for a long way I wondered if he was too settled. I thought Mark (Walsh, on Gentleman De Mee) would lead me further but two jumps put me on the back of the leader, and then he woke up.To me he was just quicker than the opposition and I wanted to delay leading for another three furlongs, but he took the lead before I wanted to at all. He settled it quickly and was ready to do it today, but there’ll be more improvement in him.Willie’s plan before he left (for America and Australia) was the Tingle Creek. The engine was always there, but he had been hard on himself and it has taken him time to mature and us time to figure him out.”
The Kieswetter and Heffer families celebrated consecutive wins in different hemispheres, after the Written Tycoon filly National Code scored at Kyneton Racecourse in Australia on Wednesday. She is owned in partnership with multiple champion trainer Mike de Kock and Larry Nestadt.
We look forward to Il Etait Temps likely next outing at the Tingle Creek Festival which is run at Sandown Park on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th December.