Both of those wins have come at Cork, the first in April 2025 and the most recent just this week, and the way jockey Jody Townend described that latest victory tells you something important about this horse. She said he was so relaxed she could ride him however she liked, and when she pressed the button, he covered the field in two strides. That kind of instant acceleration up a long straight is not something you can train into a horse — it is either there or it isn't.
What is particularly intriguing is the trainer's view of where this horse is headed. Willie Mullins, who operates out of Muine Bheag in Co Carlow and has sent out 220 winners already this season — a number that would be the envy of almost any yard in Britain or Ireland — believes Doctor Du Mesnil is built for two and a half miles rather than the shorter trips he has tackled so far. Mullins was already excited about how high the horse might climb when speaking about him last November, and nothing that has happened since has cooled that enthusiasm.
Townend went further still, saying that if he can get off the ground over a jump at all, he will be a very good horse, and that she sees a big chaser in the making. That is a significant comment. Jumping fences is a different discipline entirely from racing over hurdles, and for a jockey to look at a horse mid-career and already be thinking about where he will eventually end up over the bigger obstacles says a lot. Doctor Du Mesnil is, by any reading, a horse near the beginning of something rather than the end.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork Galloping |
2 | 2 wins | 10 May | 100% |
| Punchestown Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 26 Jan | 0% |
| Leopardstown Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 26 Dec | 0% |
| Cheltenham Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 13 Mar | 0% |