Mullins hoping Rocket can take off in Coronation Cup

Jades Rocket is no forlorn hope

Dave Mullins is hoping Jades Rocket can continue to upset the odds when he lines up in the Coral Coronation Cup final at Romford on Friday evening.

The son of Ballymac Bolger sprang a 33/1 surprise when landing a semi-final that included ante-post favourite New Destiny and fastest heat winner Radical Scoby last week.

Mullins wasn’t at the Essex venue on Friday and it took a while for him to find out his dog had caused a shock.

“We were more hopeful than anything else,” said Mullins.

“I was up at Sunderland and I got mixed messages. My wife said he had won, but then someone sent me a video and it definitely wasn’t him! 

“So, it was a little while before I knew he had qualified. I was delighted ”

Jades Rocket was ending a losing run which went back to January but Mullins believed he was always capable of a run like that on his day.

He added: “When the owner sent him to us, he thought quite a bit of him. He believed there was a big run in him. It took him a long time to show his real form.

“He reminds me in some ways of Kilmessan Puma, who won the Essex Vase for us in 2020. He just hit form at the right time and won the competition on merit at a big price (16/1) in the final .

“You want to win every competition that you’re in but I particularly want to win this one because it’s the only one at Romford we haven’t won.”

When asked about the draw, the local handler certainly had no complaints.

He continued: “If you’d have given it to me before the semi-final, I would have snapped your arm off! I’m happy with the draw.

“Realistically, he’s got to do everything right and one or two others do it wrong, but I think it is a wide-open final. It’s not like he hasn’t got any chance at all.

“Looking at last week’s run, then he’s got every chance. If you take his form before that, then you can understand why he’s an outsider, but outsiders do win finals.”

Moon can shine again

Mullins also has Calypso Moon in the Romford Friday Night 500 Maiden Final, which precedes the main event at the London Road venue.

The July 2023 daughter of Ballymac Best and Kilara Jessie has won all four starts since arriving at the Mullins kennel from Ireland and he thinks there could be more to come from her.

Mullins explained: “She qualified well. It’s not very often you go and win your first four starts.

“She’s progressing nicely and is nowhere near the finished article yet.

“She’s very timid at home, but at the track she’s very focused – totally the opposite of what you would expect.

“She’s winning her races in style without doing stunning clocks. Some dogs do fast times and that’s all they do, while others look impressive but don’t produce the clocks. There’s a lot to like about her.”