Willie Mullins three Champion Hurdle heroes to feature in new TG4 Series

TG4 and Touchline Media have announced that a new four-part series of  ‘Laochra Na Rásaíochta’,  featuring some of Ireland’s greatest National Hunt racehorses, will air for four consecutive Wednesdays at 8pm beginning on Wednesday 8 March.  

Episode 1 will tell the story of Willie Mullin's three champions in the Hurdle Race - Hurricane Fly, Faugheen and Annie Power. Quevega who has won races six times at the Cheltenham Festival will also be featured. In previous episodes of 'Racing Heroes', the gallops of Florida Pearl - the horse that made Willie Mullin famous and the gallops of Al Boum Photo - another Willie horse that won the Gold Cup twice were covered .

Participants in that episode will include: Willie Mullins, Paul Townend, Ruby Walsh, David Casey, Gail Carlisle, Ted Walsh and Noel Meade.

Episode 2 of ‘Laochra Na Rásaíochta’ airs on March 15 – two days before this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup - and features the nine Irish trained horses who have won the Gold Cup at Cheltenham since 1996. The Gold Cup is the most prestigious prize in jump racing and there have been some unforgettable Irish winners of the Cheltenham Festival showpiece – including Imperial Call, Kicking King, War Of Attrition, Lord Windermere, Don Cossack, Sizing John, Al Boum Photo, Minella Indo and A Plus Tard. 

Contributors include: Conor O’Dwyer, Barry Geraghty, Tom Taaffe, Mouse Morris, Gordon Elliott, Bryan Cooper, Jessica Harrington, Robbie Power, Davy Russell, Willie Mullins, Paul Townend, Jody Townend, David Casey and Henry de Bromhead.  

Episode 3 of ‘Laochra Na Rásaíochta’  will be broadcast on March 22 and tells the stories of the six Irish trained horses who have won the Grand National between 1999-2007. The Grand National is the most famous event in jump racing. The Irish winners of the Aintree showpiece during these years were Bobbyjo, Papillon, Monty’s Pass, Hedgehunter, Numbersixvalverde, and Silver Birch. 

Contributors include: Paul Carberry, Nina Carberry, Noel Meade, Ruby Walsh, Ted Walsh, Katie Walsh, Barry Geraghty, Jimmy Mangan, Willie Mullins, Niall Madden, Martin Brassil, Gordon Elliott, Robbie Power, 

The final episode (Episode 4) of ‘Laochra Na Rásaíochta’  airs on March 29 and features the most recent Irish trained winners of the Aintree Grand National. Since 2008 there have been many more unforgettable Irish winners of the Aintree showpiece. Two-time winner Tiger Roll was trained by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Davy Russell on both occasions. While Rachael Blackmore become the first female jockey to win the Grand National on the Henry de Bromhead trained Minella Times. 

Contributors include: David Mullins, Davy Russell, Gordon Elliott, Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead. 

The ‘Laochra na Rásaíochta’ series was written & directed by Stephen Cullinane, produced by Denis Kirwan and Dave Keena, and director of photography was Peter Moffett. Touchline Media has a successful track record in producing racing documentaries; ‘Arkle – The Legend Lives On’, was the winner of the 2015 IFTA Sports Programme of the Year and also winner of the same category at the 2015 Celtic Media Awards.

The same team also produced the IFTA-nominated sports documentary ‘Jump Boys’ in 2012 and the critically acclaimed ‘Jump Girls’ in February 2019. Touchline Media have also produced a four-part series on the Galway Races, ‘Seachtain na Rásaí’, and have produced Cheltenham and Punchestown Festival preview programmes for well over a decade.