Willie Mullins Horses To Follow at Cheltenham Festival
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No trainer has saddled more Cheltenham Festival winners than Willie Mullins and the super-power of the training ranks looks set to make hay once again in 2023.
Mullins has a huge squad of more than 60 horses to go to war with this time around and he’s responsible for no less than ELEVEN ante-post favourites over the four days, including Galopin Des Champs, who is a red-hot market leader for the blue-riband Gold Cup on the final day.
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The Closutton maestro is a 1/8 chance to be top trainer yet again – so a £10 stake would return just £11.25 - while UK bookmakers go just 11/10 that he equals or eclipses last year’s record-breaking total of 10 winners.
So, which horses are most likely to add to Mullins’ 88 Cheltenham Festival winners? Let’s take a look at his best chances.
- Key Willie Mullins Stat: 57 of his 88 Cheltenham Festival winners had won on their last start in Britain or Ireland
Expect Mullins’ Runners To Shine In Championship Races
The Stayers’ Hurdle aside, Willie Mullins has a contender in the top two of the betting in all the championship races at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival.
State Man looks up against it if he’s to topple Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle but he’s a clear second-best and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise were the Irish Champion Hurdle winner to prove capable of bustling up the red-hot favourite.
With State Man, the feeling is more hope than expectancy but that’s not the case with Energumene or Galopin Des Champs.
Energumene remains the highest-rated horse in the Champion Chase despite his surprise Clarence House Chase defeat, and those close to the stable are indicating that he’s primed to repeat last year’s Champion Chase success.
Constitution Hill aside, Galopin Des Champs is probably the most exciting horse in training, anywhere.
He goes into Friday’s Gold Cup with the potential to be a superstar of the sport and although plenty still doubt his stamina, the way he powered clear late on in the Irish Gold Cup strongly suggests he’ll handle the famous Cheltenham hill.
Klassical Dream is Willie Mullins' shortest-priced runner in the stayers’ contest but for all that he’s talented, he’s an unlikely winner.
The Champion Bumper Is Willie’s Race
A horse trained by Willie Mullins has won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper a remarkable 12 times, including in four of the last five years.
Mullins farms this contest but he doesn’t always win it with the favourite, indeed he’s saddled three double-figure priced winners in the last decade, while his winners are not always unbeaten going into the race.
Of the 11 horses still in the 2023 edition at the five-day stage, Its For Me (4/1) is the shortest in the market and he could hardly have been more impressive when bolting up at Navan.
However, the form of that race hasn’t really worked out and a better option could be Fact To File who was just under three lengths behind Champion Bumper favourite A Dream To Share at Leopardstown.
The way this soft-ground point winner stuck to his task behind the winner suggests he’ll be well suited by a strongly-run bumper at Cheltenham and he’s not a million to reverse that form.
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Similarly, Chapeau De Soleil (another point winner) wasn’t far behind Better Days Ahead on his rules debut and he is entitled to come on a bundle for that first run for Willie Mullins.
Novice Division ‘Class Of 2023’ Look A Strong Bunch
The Supreme Novices’ Hurdle could set the tone for this year’s Cheltenham Festival, especially so if Facile Vega bounces back from his shock Leopardstown defeat and adds a second festival success to his trophy cabinet.
Last year’s impressive winner of the Champion Bumper is the apple of Willie Mullins' eye and defeat at the DRF was clearly a shock to Mullins and rider Paul Townend.
Whatever the reasons for that defeat, and they remain unclear, recent market positivity around Facile Vega suggests all is well in his world and that we are likely to see the real Facile Vega stand up in the festival’s opening contest.
The unbeaten Impaire Et Passe is turning into one of the ‘talking horses’ of the entire meeting and he could be anything at this stage.
He is a well-backed 2/1 favourite for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle which suggests he’s starting to flourish in his homework because after he won his Grade 2 at Punchestown, Paul Townend told reporters that this horse doesn’t do much at home.
He has the pace for a Supreme but the Ballymore appears to be his main target and connections appear to have no concerns about his ability to thrive over a longer trip.
Embassy Gardens is the stable’s big hope in the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle and he’s another horse that could be anything despite already being seven years of age.
The form of his easy novice success at Thurles last time hasn’t really worked out but when a horse wins by 35 lengths on the bridle it probably isn’t as important.
He’s clearly a Grade 1 horse in the making – the Albert Bartlett looks right up his street.
Mullins appears to have a stranglehold on the Triumph Hurdle with Blood Destiny and Lossiemouth dominating ante-post lists, but word from Closutton is that the former is probably the best of the pair.
That makes the choice of Paul Townend a tricky one because will be desperate to make amends on Lossiemouth after her Leopardstown defeat.
However, the lure of Blood Destiny, whose dominant Fairyhouse success was boosted by the third winning a Grade 2 next time, may prove too much for the stable’s number one rider.
Focus On Hurdle Races When It Comes To Handicaps
Remarkably, Willie Mullins has never won a handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival – he’s 0-39 in that sphere, so focus on his runners in handicap hurdles, which have a much better strike-rate (11-142).
The County Hurdle (6) and the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (4) are the source of 10 of his 11 handicap hurdle winners so his runners in these two contests need particular attention.
Mullins tends to run a good horse in the Martin Pipe nowadays, as highlighted by his 2021 winner, Galopin Des Champs.
The pick of his entries in the 2023 edition appears to be the lightly-raced Spanish Harlem, who was let down by his jumping when narrowly denied in a decent novice event at Thurles in February. He could be capable of a good deal better.
So, too could the mare Hauturiere, who took the scalp of the talented Shecouldbeanything in a Mares’ Listed event at Punchestown last month. She stays well and looks potentially well treated off 129.
Mullins has won two of the last three County Hurdles, both sent off favourites, and he could well have the class horse in the race this time in six-time Grade 1 winner Sharjah who is being rerouted back to a handicap instead of running in his fourth Champion Hurdle.
A strongly-run two miles is ideal for Sharjah who has already been placed twice in Grade 1 company this term. He’s attracted support in recent days and although he’ll need to carry a big weight, he might just outclass this lot.
He has to be a bet at around 10/1 on betting sites.
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