Il Etait Temps has Craig Kieswetter's support to keep playing above his level when he returns from a well-earned break next season.
Owned by the Kieswetter family's Barnane Stud in collaboration with their partners at the Hollywood Syndicate, the six-year-old is a pint-size. The former England international cricket player has taken great pride in Il Etait Temps' accomplishments this year, having won three Grade One prizes over fences.
When the Willie Mullins-trained grey returns from a summer at grass, his major priorities will be to correct that record and compete in some of the greatest chasing races of the year. A victory at the Cheltenham Festival has eluded him for three attempts.
“We’ll give him a good break now and come out again battling and fighting next year,” said Kieswetter. “We’ve been trying for a good few years to get the win at Cheltenham and hopefully it will come, but we have to enjoy everything this lad has done for us already. Il Etait Temps has had a ridiculous season. Three Grade one wins and placed in some other big races – he’s won the Irish Arkle, Aintree and now Punchestown, it’s unbelievable. I was just happy to experience one of his big days as a lot of the time I’ve been in South Africa, so it was great to be on course and I’m very much looking forward to giving plenty of the top horses a run for their money next year with our tiny little horse.”
Il Etait Temps completed a stellar season by defeating Cheltenham Festival scorer Gaelic Warrior in the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase at the season-ending Punchestown Festival. Before, the horse had won the Irish Arkle and Manifesto Novices’ Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival and Aintree, respectively.
South African-based Kieswetter has had difficulty witnessing the majority of his champion's victories live this season, so he was happy to be present at Punchestown for this year-end spectacle.
“What a day, I landed from Cape Town the day before, popped in for the race and it was unbelievable,” he said. “The crowd at Punchestown is outstanding and he might be tiny, but he’s mighty. Gaelic Warrior made him look like a lead pony in the parade ring, so it was pretty cool to see him win. He’s very unique in his look and it goes to show size doesn’t always matter, it’s the size of your heart. Danny (Mullins) gave him a peach of a ride and was really patient with him and it was just an awesome day. Gaelic Warrior is an impressive horse both to look at and in his race record and in any graded race, you come up against proper champions and he’s exceeded all expectations.”