Vintage day for the sport's great veteran

Racing Irish OaksIt's not just 52 years that separate Frankie Dettori and Paddy Mullins, but as Vintage Tipple strode past the Darley Irish Oaks winning post yesterday it was clear that two very different men had combined to achieve a perfect result.

The scenes of incredulous joy afterwards reflected the sense that such stories usually reside in fairytales. But the emotions were as real as any that can have being generated by a Classic victory.

Dettori, who had been booked for the ride only three days previously, was his usual, foot-perfect self, leaping from the winner and milking the crowd like a diminutive WWF showman. Buried in the throng was a man who could hardly be more different.

Paddy Mullins's 84 years have seen the trainer carve out a special place in racing. Dawn Run's Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup are the most obvious nicks. His son Willie, a champion trainer in his own right, is another. Go back 30 years and there is even a Champion Stakes success by another star filly, Hurry Harriet.

But it's the continuous production of winners, the consistency of a lifetime, that has really placed Mullins at the very heart of the game.

Be it Irish Grand National winners or maiden hurdles at Clonmel, P Mullins has been there for longer than most of us have lived, and all the time looking on with that slightly puzzled expression that suggests the world has gone a little too far this time.

Mullins has never been one to use two words when none will do, and quite what he makes of Dettori-style flamboyance is not certain, but there has never been a man better able to establish the substance underneath.

The Italian's booking is as big a compliment as he will ever receive. As for Vintage Tipple, Mullins has long since known the depth of her substance.

As the filly cut down the gallant pace-setter L'Ancresse, with the Epsom Oaks winner Casual Look in third and the favourite Yesterday a poor fourth, she was only doing what her trainer always knew she could. He just didn't feel like telling everyone.

"I loved his instructions," beamed Dettori afterwards. "Nothing!"

Perhaps it was the jockey's influence, but Mullins was even moved to admit: "The sky is the limit for her - if she stays lucky."

Vintage Tipple's luck temporarily deserted her in April when she developed a hairline fractured in a canon bone. Three weeks' box rest cured it, and then generations of patient expertise took over.

Cork owner Pat O'Donovan paid just €16,000 for Vintage Tipple and turned down $3 million earlier this year. When Mullins says a horse is the real deal, people tend to listen.

"She's the best filly around. You would have to look at races like the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix Vermeille," said Dettori. But the Irish Champion Stakes in September was mentioned by Mullins's son Tom, aware of Vintage Tipple's distrust of travel.

What is certain, however, is that no one has waited longer for a first Classic success than Paddy Mullins, or deserved it more.

Aidan O'Brien's debut Classic came when he was just 27 and the parade has hardly stopped since. However, One Cool Cat's Anglesey Stakes win was enough for even O'Brien to engage the exuberance gear.

"He's always been a beauty, always a stunner in his work. He can go anywhere he wants. He's an unusual horse that way," he said.

That was enough for Paddy Power to make the $3.1 million colt their new 14 to 1 favourite for the 2,000 Guineas.

For the moment, though, One Cool Cat is just potential. The real deal demands time to prove itself.