Un De Sceaux - Unbeaten over hurdles

[Old Vic]

Un De Sceaux (FR)
b g 2008 Denham Red (FR) Hotesse De Sceaux (FR)

Owner Edward O'Connell
Trainer W P Mullins
Breeder Har De La Rousseliere & Monique Choveau
Last Win Punchestown Fri, 26th Apr, 13


After race at Punchestown Wed, 20th Feb, 2013 (1st) he has been doing that sort of work at home and is one I've been looking forward to getting out. He jumped well for a horse first time over hurdles, carrying a penalty but he's very hard on himself and we'll see how he comes out of this before deciding where to go. He is certainly a nice addition to the team and they went some 'clip' - the time was huge for the ground (4m09.9sec). W P Mullins

[mayo]

Ruby

Willie takes the wraps of Un de Sceaux at Thurles tomorrow and has found a very suitable opportunity to get his campaign up and running.

The race has just three runners and when you consider that it is impossible to make a case for Our Ollie and that Rory O’Moore is rated 30lbs below our horse then anything less than an emphatic win for Un de Sceaux will be disappointing.

He is unbeaten in four outings, two French bumpers and twice over hurdles at Punchestown, and was especially impressive at the festival in April when scoring by 13 lengths.

Un de Sceux summered well and has got stronger. He is hard on himself, however, so Willie has got him fit slowly and has also been teaching the horse to relax.

We think that has been successful, but Rory O’Moore is a bit of a tearway, so there should be lots of pace on and it is going to be interesting.

[Yeehaa]

Ruby likes him !

Un De Sceaux
He’s a cracking horse. How good could he be? How long’s a piece of string? He’s been very impressive in everything he’s done. He’s a straightforward kind of horse in that he wears his heart on his sleeve and jumps out and goes a good gallop. I’m not sure where he’s going to go next but I’d imagine he has to have a step up in class.
I think he could be a Champion Hurdle horse one day. The New One won’t need a pacemaker if he runs! He’s a really, really good horse and it would take a fair horse to get past him.

[Old Vic]

Un De Sceaux could make his second appearance of the new season this weekend after Willie Mullins gave him an entry in Sunday's Follow Navan On Facebook Hurdle.

Unbeaten in five starts but being kept low key until the big spring meetings draw closer, Un De Sceaux won a three-horse race at Thurles in a canter on his comeback but has more opposition on his plate here if the field holds up.

Aside from stablemate Vicky De L´Oasis, among the possible 10 runners are Dermot Weld's Waaheb, off the mark for the season at Cork the other day, and recent Ladbroke third Flaxen Flare.

Stuart Crawford could give his Ayr winner Trucking Along a quick turn-around and Foildubh beat Mullins' high-class French import Rubi Ball on his most recent outing over hurdles.

Un De Sceaux, though, is more than likely to start at prohibitive odds for a two-mile conditions event won by stablemates So Young and Sir Des Champs in the previous three years.

[Lester]

Un De Sceaux recorded another facile victory as he claimed the conditions hurdle at Navan by a stunning 53 lengths.
The French import maintained his unbeaten record in some style as he made all the running under Ruby Walsh in the two-mile contest.

Foildubh gave chase throughout but cried enough on the top bend as the 1/12 hotpot cranked up the pressure.

Willie Mullins' charge sauntered clear in the straight to make it six wins from six starts. He was slightly untidy at the last but there was never any anxious moments for Walsh.

Foildubh dropped away in the closing stages as Akatara came through to take the runner-up spot.
“Foildubh tried to go with him and he just completely choked. He killed him trying to go the pace,” said Mullins afterwards.

“I thought our fella was more settled today than he's ever been. He didn't jump as well as he can but that was probably because he was going that bit slower.

“Even at that pace he still seemed to take the stuffing out ofp>Foildubh and he's not a bad horse. He beat Rubi Ball last time.

“Ruby said maybe the Red Mills in Gowran could be an option. I'll have a look around and see where I can go. The Red Mills, time-wise, is the right one.

“If things went well there he'll probably go for the Champion Hurdle but he would need to improve a stone to get near Hurricane Fly.

“I don't think we really learned anymore about him today.”

Mullins also revealed how owner Edward O'Connell had enjoyed a slice of luck to get his hands on the exciting prospect:-

“He was the fifth horse I bought for him, the other four failed the vet, so it was an extraordinary piece of luck to get this guy for him.

“He asked me to buy him a horse to replace another horse we had.”

Walsh was understandably impressed and he said:

“He goes a tremendous gallop. From the last hurdle down the back to the hurdle into the straight he's maintained a serious gallop.

“I couldn't believe, when I looked back at the third last, how far back Paul (Carberry) was.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve and he's a very good horse. He's obviously going the right way and if he was to turn up in the Champion Hurdle I don't think The New One will need a pacemaker!”

[Old Vic]

[Old Vic]

Un De Sceaux 2014 Cheltenham Festival Odds as at 13/01/2014 BetVictor Odds are NRNB as are Bet365
Champion Hurdle	12/1	14/1	12/1	10/1

Ladbrokes are best price at 16/1.

[Morning Glory]

Peter Scudamore

Un De Sceaux, unbeaten and oozing uptapped potential, is a fascinating member in the Champion Hurdle squad of trainer Willie Mullins.
His unbeaten record was extended in a bloodless win at Navan on Sunday and just how good he can be is impossible to say.
His next run, probably at Gowran Park next month, will hopefully tell us more.

[mayo]

Kevin Blake

The other factor that Mullins will have to consider is Un De Sceaux. The six-year-old has been considered a Champion Hurdle dark horse since the outset of the season and whilst he has yet to be tested in two straightforward tasks this season, the relentless style with which he goes about his business is very exciting.

We will hopefully learn a bit more about him on his next start in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Gowran Park, but one suspects that we won’t find out how good he is until he contests the Champion Hurdle.

[Old Vic]

Ruby

I must mention Un De Sceaux, who was again so impressive when winning in a canter at Navan last Sunday. What I love about this horse is the way he behaves in the middle of a race.

He just sustains a relentless gallop and then is able to keep it up it right to the line. Truth to tell, I just don’t have a clue as to how good he is.

How far can he go, I just don’t know. But here’s the thing, I’m of the opinion Un De Sceaux will manage to stay any trip.

[Old Vic]

Pat Keane

Willie Mullins’ French import is definitely the most intriguing National Hunt horse in training in Britain and Ireland right now.

We know he is unbeaten in six races and seems to be able to go just about the same pace for every furlong of a two-mile race. But otherwise we are literally in the dark and that includes, you suspect, both Mullins and Ruby Walsh, who has ridden him to his four successes in Ireland.

The handicapper, Noel O’Brien, rates Un De Sceaux on 156. But that is merely an educated guess, because Un De Sceaux has yet to run against an opponent who would allow O’Brien to be confident he has actually got a decent handle on the horse.

Assuming for a moment that O’Brien’s assessment is reasonably accurate, then it does require a leap of faith to picture the six-year-old as a live Champion Hurdle possibility.

Un De Sceaux’s rating leaves him 19lbs behind Hurricane Fly and 10lbs shy of Jezki.

But that is just theory and we are simply guessing as to whether the gap may be far less, or, rather unlikely, he is perhaps flattered by his mark.

He began life by winning two French bumpers, both over a mile and a half. The first was on good to soft ground, scoring by 20 lengths, the second, on ground described as very soft, by seven lengths.

That initial outing was the only time the word good has appeared in the ground description when he’s run and most of the evidence so far is that the softer the surface the more effective Un De Sceaux will be.

What he did at Navan last Sunday to Foildubh was nothing short of staggering. Paul Carberry, as canny a pilot as has ever sat in a saddle, made his tactics crystal clear from the start, as he asked Foildubh to stick into Un De Sceaux as best he could.

Carberry had done the same aboard Foildubh when unsettling another Mullins inmate, Rubi Ball, at Thurles in late November, turning over that hotpot by a head.

But, in trying to match strides with the powerful frontrunner, it soon became obvious that he was seeking the impossible.

Un De Sceaux broke Foildubh from about the fourth last, to such an extent that the latter was unconscious early in the straight.

It was the fourth occasion we had seen the horse destroy inferior opposition and left us yearning to see him taking on the best.

The best, in Ireland, are Hurricane Fly, Jezki, Our Conor and Annie Power. But the first three are all being aimed at the Irish Champion Hurdle, while Mullins’ Annie Power certainly won’t be heading in the same direction as Un De Sceaux, at least not before Cheltenham.

The likelihood is that Un De Sceaux will now go for the Red Mills at Gowran Park, but there is little chance we are going to learn anything new from that.

So, all logic tells us that he is destined to remain a mystery horse for some time to come. After his Navan demolition job, Ladbrokes reacted by not reacting at all and left him at 16-1 for the Champion Hurdle. Couldn’t have agreed more.

Mind you, by Tuesday, Ladbrokes were forced to react and slashed six points off his odds to 10-1.

[Old Vic]

Champion Hurdle	8/1	10/1	12/1	12/1

[Yeehaa]

Quotes below...thought Mullins sounded more negative about Champion Hurdle today...said he had a stone to find on ATR in different interview than below.



He did what he had to do.

"His jumping wasn't quite as fluent but he was going a steadier pace and it's nice to see that he's relaxing better in his races now.

"We'll see how he comes out of the race and we'll see what happens between now and then (Cheltenham)," said winning trainer Willie Mullins.

Meanwhile Walsh reported: "I probably wasn't letting him go fast enough early and he wasn't jumping as well.

"When we stepped it up halfway down the back he really jumped the last four or five very well.

"He won probably as expected and as he was entitled to.

"You have your stick in your right so you don't run out (when he shied at the roadway) but technically you should have your stick in the left for the gate but it's catch twenty two.

"You can't really be changing the stick around on a free horse like him. You're hoping your legs will get him around the bend.

"You don't know there is (more under the bonnet) until you go to find out but hopefully there is. Mentally he's a horse that's taken plenty of minding and looking after but the more he's enjoying it the better chance he has of progressing and the longer he might last.

"If he ran in a Champion Hurdle he wouldn't be the type to be giving fifteen (lengths) to out of the gate."

[Lester]

[mayo]

looks like Yeehaa might have been right.

"He's good, he came out of the race fine. It took a fair bit out of him. People think it is easy but galloping two miles in that soft ground still takes a fair bit out of them."

Asked about Cheltenham, for which Un De Sceaux is a 10/1 chance with Sky Bet, Mullins said: "I just wonder if he needs that at this time in his career, taking on those fantastic horses.

"Obviously he is hugely talented for the future. We were happy to keep him under the radar and that's where I'd like to keep him."