THERE isn’t much that Willie Mullins hasn’t achieved during his career.
But on Thursday he broke new ground when his Panic Attack routed the opposition at Market Rasen.
It was Mullins’ first ever runner at the Lincolnshire track, and she made light work of her eight rivals in the Listed Mares’ Bumper.
She was relatively easy to back in the betting beforehand, drifting out to 5-2 shortly before the off.
But there was rarely a moments doubt throughout the 2m contest as she cruised round under a confident-looking Paul Townend.
When asked for her effort approaching the final two furlongs, she sprouted wings and drew right away to win by 10 lengths.
Fellow Irish raider The Getaway Star was second under jockey Tom Queally, the rider of the great Frankel.
Mullins said: “She was very impressive. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but she’d done good work at home and I was hoping she’d run well.
“Running against more experienced mares on that sort of ground, I was worried she might come up a bit short, but she was very good.”
The bookies reacted by slashing her odds for the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, with William Hill cutting her to 12-1 from a huge 50-1.
You reckon Willie Mullins may pop to Market Rasen more often
Panic Attack is a smart filly and she routs them in the Listed bumper
pic.twitter.com/u9dWdZdxLC
— Sun Racing (@SunRacing) January 16, 2020
Mullins confirmed that race, which he has won a record nine times, was under consideration,
He said: “I’ll have a chat with the owners. They were keen to go to Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, but unfortunately she was balloted out. They were keen to run today and it looks like it was a good idea.
“If she was to run in Cheltenham, I doubt I’d run her between now and then.”
Winning rider Townend added: “I ended up at the front for longer and much sooner than I wanted to be, but she’s cut through there with ease.
“She did it well in the end, it wasn’t a badly-run race which is a big help to me. She’s got a lovely future.”
