Talking about equine airplanes can wait since, at this time, Paul Townend is excited about fast cars and the day a dream came true.
Townend is the best national hunting pilot of his generation, a man about the story. As a stable rider for the Willie Mullins Yard, it is scheduled to be adorned with awards when the Cheltenham festival ends on Friday, the one that longs for it is a third consecutive golden cup in Galopin des Champs.
In spite of all its success: 148 grade, 34 Cheltenham Victorias, six Irish jockey championships, a victory in the Grand National, Townend feels comfortable flying under the radar but, before the four days that matter most in the races, he has agreed to open himself as never before.
So here it is, transporting back to Barcelona last June for what was a trip of a lifetime to the Spanish Grand Prix with the close friend Danny Mullins. Share memories with infectious enthusiasm, revealing a vertigo that many would not expect to show a superior athlete.
“We were as children in a sweet factory, honest with God,” Townend Beams. 'Simply walking along the doors, seeing the town with all hospitality and garages. Jesus, the speed at which they go! Fortunate enough, we were in the hospitality of Red Bull … We were amazed just looking at the menu!
'We were drinking coffee, the next thing that Max Verstappen passes by me. Then Daniel Ricciardo sits for breakfast. They are like what I thought were riders when it was growing: superheroes and untouchables.
Paul Townend has outlined his desire to ensure greater glory in the Gold Cup
Townend has the hope that he and Galpin des Champs can achieve greater success
In the Spanish Grand Prix, Townend approached stars like Max Verstappen
'Do we ask for photos? No no. We don't get too close. We talk to some former drivers and things like that, but we leave the main children alone. We met Charles Leclerc in one of the hotels. He was having dinner with his girlfriend. I was crazy!
Townend would not agree, but now he is seen as a superhero. When Gallopin Des Champs won the Savills persecution in Leopardstown on December 28, he took 20 minutes to make the 20 -yard walk from Paddock to the weighing room while signing each autograph and posed for each selfie.
“You feel a little fraud, to be honest,” he says, in silence. 'But I love it when children appear because that was me not long ago. I was that child. I remember that Jamie Moore (a festival winner) came to ride Limerick one day and gave me a couple of glasses.
I went to bed with them! Any rider that gave me something was like giving me lottery numbers as an adult. So I love to see the children and stop to talk to them because I remember how I felt when I met a rider growing. It just does not seem that Methey should stop for me.
But they stop when Townend has done something that nobody thought it was possible: he entered the paper unoccupied by Ruby Walsh, whom many consider the best of all, and flourished. This, in some aspects, is Racing's equivalent to Lewis Hamilton taking the seat of Michael Schumacher in Mercedes.
Hamilton won six 2013 world titles, Townend delivered a first golden cup for Mullins, in Al Bouum Photo, in 2019, and three others largely. The comparison between formula one and the races is something that can be seen, especially due to the great risk and reward.
You have to be angry to do both! Series. 'Driving to survive hooked me. I was thinking about tactics and everything that happens behind the scene. It is definitely identifiable. There are only so many seats available, it is very technical. I suppose that somehow the race itself is the boring part.
'If you see a grand prize, you think it's just a case to get to the front, and then go as quickly as possible and win. There are many other parts and variables. The weather changes, the terrain changes. Assuming the most of its tires is like us saving energy. It's great, like.
Townend reflected on his hard work and learning from people like Ruby Walsh
Townend is studying as a crowded student for exams, with nothing that is not accidental.
Galpin des Champs is a 'special' horse says Townend while preparing for his last test
Townend has worked at the Mullins Yard since he was 15 years old, the age at which he lost his mother. Now 34 years old, he is in full swing, but he does not believe that his position has to do with long -standing relations; The owners for those who travel expect results.
“It's like a driver,” he says. 'If they do not act in the seat, they are out, right? You are there to do a job and that is where your work is also about luck. I had a good long career at the beginning of my career, seeing Ruby and learning. So I had time but you have to spend the hours.
'He makes mistakes and people wait for you. Once you do not make the same mistake again, it can be easily forgiven. Mount any horse for Willie, any day, you must comment.
'If it is not in the races, we talk before and after each race. If he asks you a question and you don't have the answer, he is disappointed in you. That has instilled me from the moment I started. Willie continues to establish the highest bar and challenging himself every year. If he is doing that, you also have to do it to be part of that.
However, arising to the challenge is not a problem when you have the book of the rides that Townend has this week. Starting with Kopek des bordes in the obstacle of supreme newbies, the chances of winning will appear as fast as the prizes in the conveyor belt of the generation game.
He has been winning in Cheltenham since an advance in 2011 in a four -year -old Hurdler named What A Charm and What Aview for a man who, 12 months ago, became the first rider since 1930 to make the champion Hurdle, Gold Cup and Grand National Treble in the same season. One would think that he would be relaxed, but the paper cell in front of him says otherwise. He is studying as a crowded student for exams, with nothing to chance. Why does he when Galpin des Champs is ready to emulate the three times winners of the Gold Cup, the best companion and Arkle?
“Anyone who tells you not to get nervous tells you a lie,” he smiles. 'Or they are not giving him the respect he deserves, I think. The nerves are good, once they are channeled in the right direction. They give you an advantage, they make you clear.
'Tuesday morning in Cheltenham, when I get home to ride, I will force myself to have a portion of toast, but I will not eat the cortex! Those are the nerves! Winning never becomes “the same”; In any case, it becomes more addictive. I know what I have to ride, but you try not to make it say the wrong thing before. You have to go to do it. You are afraid to take for granted that has already happened. But I will tell you this: Galopin is special.
He is in fact. He is the horse with the formula one engine, and Townend is on the trip of his life.