Hear the full interview
From 17:20 in Thursday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Ethical Diamond’s whole season has been geared towards defending his Breeders’ Cup Turf crown at Keeneland, according to David Casey, assistant to trainer Willie Mullins.
Last year’s 25-1 shock winner at Del Mar was beaten a length and three-quarters by Tiffany in the Kentucky Turf Cup last time out but with Ombudsman now missing the race, Casey believes the Ebor winner is coming to the boil at the right time.
“He’s in good order, and I think his runs have been improving all season,” Casey told Nick Luck. “He ran well in Kentucky the last day behind Tiffany, and hopefully going back there will spark him again. We’ve been working back from here all along, all season. Willie had that plan in his head.”
“We’ve been working back from here all along, all season.”
David Casey
That plan meant a different route from last year. Ethical Diamond unsurprisingly didn’t revert to hurdles this year, starting instead in Dubai before going to Ascot, with a run at Leopardstown in between.
“We felt he just needed to run a little bit more than he would have done last year,” Casey said. “We just felt he needed extra runs this year without actually forcing him too much early in the season, and hoping that he’d come to hand at the right time.”
Pace is the key
Casey believes a strongly run race will suit him best. “I think he really enjoys a really strong gallop,” he said. “He won an Ebor over a mile and six, so we know he gets the trip really well. In his early days he used to race a little bit too keenly early on, but I think he’s settled down a good bit now. A real strong pace suits him best, and hopefully we get that in America.”
Asked whether Ethical Diamond is as good as he was 12 months ago, Casey was candid. “His runs this year would probably say he hasn’t been,” he said. “But as I say, I think he’s been building up, and Willie’s been aiming for this race. So hopefully when he goes back there and gets a bit of fast going and a stronger pace, I think that will suit him.”
‘A little bit unachievable’
Last year’s success was the first Breeders’ Cup win for Mullins, and Casey admitted it ranks highly among the stable’s many international successes because it once seemed out of reach.
“I suppose it was up there because we probably never really thought it would be achievable,” he said. “Being a predominantly jumping yard, you never think you’re going to actually have a Group One flat horse. Because we probably thought it was a little bit unachievable, maybe that makes it more special.”
Rishi Persad, speaking on the show, warned against underestimating the defending champion; “Ethical Diamond almost certainly would have had that circled as his main target for the year,” he said. “Every race through the season has just been a stepping stone to this massive target. So I would not be ruling him out, and I’ll be including him in every single play that I put in for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.”
