Galway bred horse seeks glory at festival Mullins is poised to plunder
EVEN by Willie Mullins’ exalted standards, his grip on the ante-post market for next week’s Cheltenham National Hunt Festival is extraordinary.
We have become used to Mullins sending over a hoard of fancied runners for jumping’s most prestigious meeting, but his raiding party for the 2021 festival is arguably his most formidable ever.
Top trainer at Cheltenham for seven of the last ten festivals and the all-time record holder with 72 winners, Mullins’ runners are either the market leader or the main danger in over half of the 28-race programme.
Less than a week out from the festival, Ireland’s champion trainer has some awesome ammunition to fire at the four-day highlight of the jumps season under the shadow of Cleeve Hill.
Apart from Al Boum Photo chasing a Gold Cup hat-trick, Chacun Pour Soi is an odds-on chance to give the Co Carlow based stable a first ever triumph in next Wednesday’s Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Also heading the ante-post market are Monkfish in the Brown Advisory Novices Chase (formerly the RSA), Appreciate It in the Supreme Novices, Concertista in the Mares Hurdle, Gaillard Du Mesnil in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle, Kilcruit in the Champion Bumper, Allaho in the Ryanair Chase, Hook Up in the Mares Novices Hurdle, Stattler in the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle, Billaway in the Christies Foxhunters and Ellimay in the new Mares Chase, while Energumene is rated the big threat to Shishkin in the Arkle Chase.
And we haven’t even mentioned the likes of twice Irish Gold Cup winner Kemboy, Saint Sam in the Boodles Juvenile Hurdle or Sharjah’s bid to go one place better than last year in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle. On top of that the stable is benefiting from the fall-out over the shocking image of Gordon Elliott straddling a dead horse on his gallops, with leading bumper fancy Sir Gerhard now in Mullins’ care.
Ireland’s champion trainer will also have strong representation in the handicaps and his all-conquering yard must have every prospect of setting a new record for total winners at a single festival – currently, Mullins shares that honour with Elliott with each having a haul of eight in the past.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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