Mr Mulligan (horse)

Mr Mulligan
Sire	Torus
Grandsire	Ribero
Dam	Miss Manhattan
Damsire	Bally Joy
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	25 April 1988
Country	Ireland
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	J Rowley
Owner	Michael & Geraldine Worcester
Trainer	Kim Bailey Noel Chance
Record	12: 7-2-0 (NH Rules)
Earnings	£212,552
Major wins
Towton Novices' Chase (1996) Reynoldstown Novices' Chase (1996) Cheltenham Gold Cup (1997)

Mr Mulligan (15 April 1988 – 28 June 1999) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a specialist steeplechaser who ran twelve times and won seven races under National Hunt rules. After mixed success in Point-to-point, Mr Mulligan rose to prominence by winning five successive races of increasing importance in the 1995/1996 National Hunt season. He became known for his front-running style and occasionally erratic jumping. In the following year he appeared to have lost his form before recording an upset win over a strong field in the 1997 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was retired after being injured in training in 1998. Eighteen months later he died after being injured in a paddock accident.

Mr Mulligan was a chestnut horse with a broad white blaze bred by James Rowley of Clifton Lodge. He was sired by Torus out of the mare Miss Manhattan. When Rowley died in 1991 his bloodstock was sold and the four-year-old gelding was sent to the Tattersalls Ireland sales in February 1992 where was sold for 1,700 guineas. Mr Mulligan was later bought privately for £18,000 by Michael Worcester.

Mr Mulligan was a huge, awkward-looking horse. Richard Edmondson in The Independent wrote that he was "no oil painting, rather something a child might produce on the kitchen table with crayon", while the horse's owner described him as "a great orange thing". Mr Mulligan appeared almost useless in training: according to Noel Chance, who trained him to his greatest success, he was an exceptionally lazy animal who only showed his best in a competitive race.

Before running under official National Hunt rules, Mr Mulligan competed in Ireland on the amateur Point-to-point circuit. In early 1994, the six-year-old failed to complete the course in his first three attempts. He fell at Punchestown, "slipped up" at Cashel and unseated his rider in a race at Summerhill. On 8 May he finally showed some promise, winning a three-mile event for maidens at Nenagh in Tipperary by a distance (more than thirty lengths).

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