Willie Mullins to have first US runners
Champion Irish jumps trainer Willie Mullins will have his first runners in the United States when Nichols Canyon and Shaneshill run in the Iroquois Hurdle.
Mullins has travelled flat horses as far as Australia, most notably last year’s Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite.
Any horse which can win Saturday’s Grade One Iroquois Hurdle in Nashville and claim the 2016 World Hurdle at Cheltenham gets a $US500,000 ($A679,117) bonus.
Both horses competed in this year’s Cheltenham Festival, with Nichols Canyon third in the Champion Hurdle and Shaneshill runner-up in the RSA Chase.
Ruby Walsh will partner Nichols Canyon with Danny Mullins aboard Shaneshill. Both are owned by Andrea and Graham Wylie.
“Nichols Canyon and Shaneshill have arrived on the track and it’s so far, so good with them. We are happy with them,” Mullins said.