Willie Mullins Best Chances For Glory At The 2023 Cheltenham Festival

Coming into the national hunt season at the back end of last year, the Willie Mullins already had a huge reputation, unbeaten as a bumper horse including an emphatic performance to win the Champion Bumper at last year’s festival. All eyes were certainly on him heading into the new season.

We got to see him strut his stuff over Hurdles in early December at Fairyhouse, where he won by an easy 14 lengths. He then lined up in the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown, beating Il Etait Temps by 4 lengths, not jumping fluently at times, but he lengthened away coming to the line. So far so good for his Hurdling career, but next time out he did come slightly unstuck. Going into the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown he was almost a sure favourite to win the Grade 1 Novices Hurdle in many eyes, but that wasn’t to be as he was well beaten into 5th by 20 lengths finishing last of all the runners who completed, the race won by Il Etait Temps. The race wasn’t run to suit, and he did scope badly after the race, so excuses were there for a poor performance.

Facile Vega is clearly talented on his day, we all have seen that, but the run last time out does leave slight question marks surround him, but he is in best hands to get fit and ready for the Supreme Novices Hurdle. A race the yard has won on seven separate occasions.

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It would be unfair to mention Facile Vega, without talking about the horse who pretty much demolished him at the Dublin Racing Festival last time out. He won on merit that day, and although Facile Vega probably didn’t run at his best, this horse still won nicely by just under 10 lengths. He in quite a few eyes can confirm the form with Facile Vega again in the Supreme, and win the opening race of the festival.

It’s a shame we are living in an era of Constitution Hill as he is a freak, because if we weren’t then State Man would be hailed as the top dog of the 2-mile division. But taking nothing away from the Willie Mullins trained horse, he is clearly very, very talented and he more than showed that last time out in the Irish Champion Hurdle, he is the best of the Irish contingency.

State Man hasn’t been beaten since his Hurdle debut back in 2021, where he fell, he has since won a County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last year, the Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown, The Mathesons Hurdle and Irish Champion Hurdle, both of the last two this season, taking his tally to four Grade 1’s and counting.

His Irish Champion Hurdle performance last time out was no doubt a career best, serving it up to the rest of the field, by making all to win comfortably by 4- and three-quarter lengths. He, like Constitution Hill, doesn’t really have any flaws to his game. He jumps well and is versatile in terms of making all or sitting in behind. 

What a contest we have in store on day one!

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A horse in the JP McManus colours that has caught the eye of many this season so far, running decent enough to come 3rd on his stable debut, before going on to get a cosy ride when winning on his 2nd career start at Leopardstown in December. He then came 3rd next time out in a Grade 1 behind Gala Marceau at the Dublin Racing Festival, beaten by just under 11 lengths, which was a decent enough run but couldn’t land a glove on the two who finished 1st and 2nd.

He looks to have been tenderly handled in his three runs over Hurdles, and he has been fancied for the Boodles by many, a race that the yard like to leave for a potential Graded horse in a Handicap, and Tekao could be the one to fill that mold of previous years.

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In typical Willie Mullins fashion, we are unsure on where this horse is going to go at the Festival next month, but he currently holds two entries, in the Supreme Novices Hurlde or Ballymore Novices Hurdle. He has been running at 2 miles on his previous four runs, which were his first four rides for his new yard Willie Mullins, including a decent 2nd place finish in the Boodles at the Festival last year, a race he was very well fancied in the market to win.

He seemed to be campaigned with a big handicap in mind for the festival, as he was given a pretty lenient mark of 134 at the start of this season after that decent run in the Boodles last year, and that clearly was as lenient as we all thought as he has shot up the ratings to a mark of 153 now. Gaelic Warrior has been quite impressive this season, winning all three of his races by just over 105 lengths, including an 86 length win on his seasonal debut at Tramore. But arguably his best performance this season came last time out, when winning a competitive handicap at the Dublin Racing Festival by just under 4 lengths.

Only time will tell what race he aims at, but given his entries he will be going the Grade 1 route, and given his performances this year he does look like he could improve enough to win a graded contest.

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Last year’s impressive Champion Chase winner, is on a slight recovery mission after a disappointing effort in the re-arranged Clarence House Chase last time out. There doesn’t seem to be many excuses for that poor performance last time out when expected to win, he jumped well on the most part, apart from the last, but he was well beaten at that stage.

So going into this year’s festival there are a few question marks surrounding him after that run last time out, but there seem to be on all of the main runners in this year’s Champion Chase, we all know how talented he can be, judging on his performances last year where he was a multiple Grade 1 winner.

If he can bounce back to his very best, and put in a performance like he did in this race last year, he will be hard to peg back. There has been a bit more support for him in the market these past few weeks, so again that is worth keeping a close eye on leading up to the festival.

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A horse that has come on leaps and bounds since going over fences, winning various Grade 1’s including a career best performance in the Grade 1 Paddy’s Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown in December. He took a keen hold early on in the race, but soon got his act together to jump nicely before going on to win impressively by 11 lengths.

He did disappoint last time out at the Dublin Racing Festival, when another Willie Mullins horse that was expected to go and win, sent off at odds-favourite in the Dublin Chase, only to be well beaten by Gentleman De Mee by 7 lengths. Paul Townend stated that the horse felt flat throughout the race, and nothing was picked up after the race which does leave slight question marks heading into the festival, but if he can re-produce anything near to his previous runs over fences, then he will be hard to stop.

He currently holds two entries for the festival, he’s in both the Champion Chase and Ryanair, but he has won over 2m4f recently, in which he won stylishly so it wouldn’t be any surprise to see him line up in the Ryanair come March.

A horse going into this Cheltenham Festival with a pretty big reputation, which was ever so slightly dented in her last run at the Dublin Racing Festival. She came into the new season with all eyes on her after a decent performance in France for previous trainer, she was pitched straight into Grade 3 company on Hurdle debut, jumping nicely all the way around before going on to win by 4 lengths. That form has been franked nicely since with Comfort Zone coming out to win two Grade 2 contests, who finished 3rd behind Lossiemouth on her debut.

She then followed that up with a nice performance in a Grade 2 contest at Leopardstown, winning by 7 and a half lengths before heading into the Dublin Racing Festival with an every growing reputation. She was well fancied that day, but was beaten into second by Gala Marceau by just over 2 lengths. Lossiemouth didn’t have much luck in running at all, hampered by a stablemate before going wide coming down the home straight. Although beaten as an odds-on favourite that day, she still ran with credit given how she was unlucky in running. I still think she is the one to beat heading into the Triumph at the Festival.