Mullins: Ferny Hollow death 'an awful shame'
FINEST HOUR: Ferny Hollow wins the 2020 Champion Bumper in the hands of Paul Townend.
Picture: Healy Racing
Willie Mullins has described the death of Ferny Hollow as “an awful shame” after the 2020 Champion Bumper winner suffered a fatal fall in Sunday's Hilly Way Chase at Cork.
A two-time Grade One winner, the Cheveley Park -owned nine-year-old was in contention at the second-last in Cork under the trainer's son Patrick before a heavy fall resulted in fatal injuries.
"Ferny Hollow was an extremely talented horse on his day and showed a tremendous turn of foot under Paul Townend to win the Champion Bumper," Mullins told the .
"Going into the Hilly Way he had won six in a row, and that just goes to show how good he was when he was on song. He will be a huge loss to the yard and to Cheveley Park.
"He had loads of ability and the day he beat Bob Olinger at Gowran turned out to be some maiden hurdle. They really quickened that day.
"Unfortunately, he never got back to Cheltenham after winning the Champion Bumper there as he picked up a couple of injuries along the way, but he had been in great form going to Cork.
"He was in the process of running a lovely race. It's an awful shame what has happened as everyone who looked after the horse did a brilliant job."
