Willie Mullins-trained Cheltenham legend dies
He was described as 'a real character', 'grumpy and 'not very pretty'
Uncle Junior, who ran 14 times around Cheltenham's cross country track, has died aged 24.
The Willie Mullins-trained gelding only recorded two victories from those appearances, but was a regular runner at the home of jumps racing.
Both of those victories came at the November meeting and he never managed to win at the Festival in March in races won by the likes of Balthazar King and Josies Orders.
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Regularly ridden by Patrick Mullins, he was a three-time winner at the Punchestown Festival, where Ruby Walsh also partnered him to win a handicap chase. He earned over €200,000 in prize money throughout his career.
Sharing the sad news on X, owner Luke McMahon wrote: "Lost a great pal today 24 and went peacefully,an iron horse ...RIP."
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Previously speaking about Uncle Junior, Patrick Mullins said: “He was a real character, he was grumpy. He had a big wart on his ear, he wasn’t very pretty. Some days he’d go, some days he wouldn’t. He used be way out the back and then fly home.
“I think his first La Touche is one of the favourite races of my career, if not the favourite… he had 12-7 on his back and we got up in the last stride. I just thought, 12-7, four and a half miles, getting up and winning by a short head; that was for me what jump racing is all about and I got immense satisfaction from that.
“A couple of years we got up and beat Nina (Carberry) in a tight finish on good ground and any time you beat Nina was memorable. He was a horse who gave me some fabulous memories.”
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