Clondaw Warrior in best form of career at age 9

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Clondaw Warrior is 9. That is a ripe old age for a racehorse, and yet he comes into the $300,000 American St. Leger on Saturday having just won the biggest prize of his career, first place over 20 rivals in the $331,800 Galway Handicap Hurdle in Ireland. The race was July 28, meaning Clondaw Warrior runs on about two weeks’ rest with a ship from Ireland to Chicago in between.

“The way his weight was back up so quickly, everything was clear to send him to America,” said Virginie Bascop, who has been exercise-riding Clondaw Warrior since he came under the care of trainer Willie Mullins in 2014.

North American racing fans might know little of the Ireland-based Mullins, but overseas, he is a minor legend as a jump-racing trainer. Mullins had his first U.S. starters in May when he ran two horses over National Fences at Percy-Warner Park.

Clondaw Warrior splits his time between long races on the flat and over hurdles. He does well doing both and somehow has put together the best seasons of his career at ages 8 and 9.

“His races say he is better now,” Bascop said. “Willie has given him loads of time to recover, loads of slow work, and it’s worked out quite well.”

Clondaw Warrior is owned by Act D Wagg Syndicate, a five-woman partnership that includes Gillian Walsh, the wife of champion jumps rider Ruby Walsh. It was Ruby Walsh, in fact, who rode Clondaw Warrior to victory last out at Galway. Walsh tacked 159 pounds in that two-mile race, and on Saturday, Clondaw Warrior carries 126, including jockey Seamie Heffernan.

As for the quick turnaround between starts, Clondaw Warrior probably can handle it. He made his first start for Mullins on Aug. 16, 2014, winning at Tramore in Ireland by eight lengths, and two days later finished second in a handicap at Roscommon.