Willie Mullins has described the "extraordinary" response to Ethical Diamond's shock success in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar last week.
The five-year-old stunned the field when he stepped up from wins in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot and York’s Ebor Handicap to land Grade One honours in the hands of Dylan Browne McMonagle, fending off Godolphin’s nine-time top-level scorer Rebel’s Romance in a new course record time.
Ethical Diamond was sent to the Breeders’ Cup as he would not have passed veterinary checks for the Melbourne Cup and while Mullins rated him highly, he did not expect victory on one of the biggest international flat stages.
He told Racing TV: "It was extraordinary in America. The minute he crossed the line and the announcer said he’d broke the course record, to me that was extraordinary to bring what was in effect a handicapper, but I knew he was better than that. I thought he might win a Group Three – I didn’t think he’d go the whole way.
"He wasn’t allowed to go to Australia but I said to (assistant) David Casey to look out for something for him, a mile and a half, and he came up with this idea. I thought 'why not?’ and it’s important to have owners like the H O S Syndicate who are brave enough to try it. I thought with them having a runner in Australia a few days later (Absurde in the Melbourne Cup) they might not go for it but they were all full of support."
Mullins has bagged over 100 Cheltenham Festival winners during his career, won three Grand Nationals, countless Irish trainers’ titles and is a dual British champion but has been surprised by the response to his American success.
He added: "My phone lit up – I would say I got more texts and emails than I got for any Cheltenham (winner), Grand National or even winning the (trainers’) championship in Britain. It was just extraordinary from both sides of racing, jumping and Flat and lots of other people. I didn’t see what happened at home but people told me there was a huge reaction."
