From a training base in County Carlow, Ireland, trainer Willie Mullins has conquered jump racing in his home country and Britain in a spectacular manner. This week, his massive operation has spread as far as Del Mar and Melbourne, Australia. Mullins will have his first Breeders’ Cup runner when Ethical Diamond starts in Saturday’s $5 million Turf at 1 1/2 miles. Ethical Diamond was a successful hurdler for Mullins earlier this year. Mullins is so dominant in the jumps game that his runners swept the trifecta in the famous Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree Racecourse in England in April, the third time he has won the grueling race at 4 1/4 miles. Mullins is the winningest trainer at the four-day Cheltenham festival for jumpers in England with 113 career victories, including a record 10 of the 28 races in 2022 and earlier this year. He has been leading trainer at the meeting in 12 of the last 15 years, and it’s not uncommon for him to have four runners in any given race. Mullins was champion jumps trainer in Britain, determined by earnings, for the second consecutive season in 2024-25. He has won 19 titles as Ireland’s leading jumps trainer. :: BREEDERS’ CUP TURF: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more Mullins, 70, was the champion amateur jockey six times in Ireland and is the son of the late Paddy Mullins, a famous trainer. Willie Mullins began training in 1988. For most handicappers, an assessment of a major jump race in Britain or Ireland begins with a study of the Mullins-trained hurdlers and steeplechasers. They are often well backed. But Ethical Diamond, a 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding, will be a longshot in the richest grass race in the United States. “We’re happy to take a chance,” Mullins said in an interview earlier this month. It’s safe to say Ethical Diamond has had the most unique preparation of a recent BC Turf runner. A 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding, Ethical Diamond has won 4 of 14 starts, with three wins in flat races and a win in a maiden race for hurdlers in Ireland in February. Ethical Diamond was fourth in the 16-runner County Handicap Hurdle at 2 1/8 miles at Cheltenham in March. In that race, Mullins saddled the first- and third-place finishers, Kargese and Absurde. After finishing seventh of 12 in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr in April, Ethical Diamond was switched back to flat races. He has not lost since, winning the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Royal Ascot in June, giving Mullins an 11th career win at the world-famous meeting. Ethical Diamond followed with a powerful 2 1/4-length win in the $676,400 Ebor Handicap at 1 3/4 miles at York Racecourse in August against 21 rivals. “This fellow has been good to me,” Mullins said. During the summer, Ethical Diamond was considered for Tuesday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup at two miles in Australia until “strict vet rules ruled him out,” Mullins said. Ethical Diamond had a screw inserted in a leg after sustaining a fracture in 2024, Mullins told the British press earlier this year. Horses are not allowed to race in the Melbourne Cup after such injuries, according to Racing Victoria, the state regulatory agency in Australia. At that point, the BC Turf became an option. “We were looking for an alternative,” Mullins said. “We looked around and thought this race might suit him.” :: Get the inside scoop from the morning workouts with Breeders' Cup Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team. The BC Turf will be Ethical Diamond’s first graded or group stakes appearance in a flat race. He is part of a field led by Minnie Hauk, second in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Oct. 5; and Rebel’s Romance, who won the BC Turf at Keeneland in 2022 and at Del Mar last year and can become the first three-time winner of the race. Ethical Diamond, owned by HOS Syndicate, will have no issue with firm turf or 1 1/2 miles. The competition is a greater concern for Mullins. “I think he’ll handle the track and handle the type of racing in America,” Mullins said. “This is a big step. He’s owned by a good crew, and they want a bit of fun in their racing.” Mullins occasionally switches horses from jump racing to flat races. Vauban, a 7-year-old gelding trained by Mullins, won three consecutive Grade 1 hurdle races in Britain and Ireland in early 2022 and later won the Copper Horse Handicap at 1 3/4 miles at Royal Ascot and the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup on the flat at 2 1/16 miles at York Racecourse in Britain in 2024. Ethical Diamond will not see a hurdle again, Mullins said. “We’re sticking to the flat,” he said. “He won’t go jumping again.” After the Breeders’ Cup, Ethical Diamond could start in a distance stakes on turf in Saudi Arabia in February, Mullins said. By then, the stable’s jumpers will be approaching the big races of the spring at Cheltenham, Aintree, and the Punchestown festival in Ireland. After Saturday, Mullins is off to Melbourne to start Absurde in the Melbourne Cup for the second consecutive year after a fifth-place finish last year. Absurde, winner of the 2024 County Hurdle at Cheltenham and a four-time winner in flat races, was a troubled seventh in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup at 1 1/2 miles in Australia on Oct. 18. Between Ethical Diamond at Del Mar and Absurde in Melbourne, Mullins could have quite the start to November. Then he’ll return to Ireland, where the jump season is underway. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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