Whirlwind of Cheltenham winners for Willie Mullins on hectic week of action

Willie Mullins hit the Cheltenham Festival with a whirlwind of Grade 1 wins last week.

The spree started with Kargese, a mare who showed no end of pace, accurate jumping and plain courage to make all in the Grade 1 Singer Arkle Novices’ Trophy over two miles.

Very well ridden by Danny Mullins (his fourth winner at the Festival), Kargese first burnt off the 11-10 race favourite Lulamba at the second last fence. Then stable companion Kopek Des Bordes loomed an ominous threat, jumping the final fence upsides.

However, the latter did not land fluently, leaving 7-1 chance Kargese to win by over two lengths.

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The highlight of the Tuesday, the Grade 1 Champion Hurdle, was the next to hit the Mullins trophy cabinet with Lossiemouth bolting up in the pink silks of owner Susannah Ricci by over six lengths from Brighterdaysahead.

Given the manner of victory, it was amazing to think the 7-5 favourite was only a late confirmation with a third straight win in the Mares’ Hurdle also mulled long and hard. The first-time application of cheekpieces seemingly played their part.

This was a fourth Festival victory for the grey mare so she is in rare company along with the likes of Arkle and Istabraq. Only Golden Miller and Tiger Roll (five wins each) and Quevega (six wins) rate higher in terms of numerical success at the meeting.On Wednesday, the Mullins train keep on rolling, picking up both Grade 1 novice races opening the meeting.

In a week when riding on or at least close to the pace proved beneficial, King Rasko Grey made the most of a prominent position and quickened well to land the Turners Novice Hurdle over 2m4f.

Ridden by Paul Townend in the Galopin Des Champs silks of Audrey Turley, this was just the fifth career start by the winner. He scored by over two lengths from British rival Act Of Innocence at 11-1.

“I love this horse,” Townend added. “I came in and said to Willie after Leopardstown last time, ‘I can’t believe he finished third’. But it made a man of him that day. He’s still a little babyish, but it brought him on a lot. He’s a very exciting horse, I promise you that.”

In the very next race, Mullins struck again with another 11-1 chance in the form of Kitzbuhel who won the Brown Advisory Novice Chase by three-parts of a length from his better fancied stablemate Final Demand (7-2).

Harry Cobden was called up for this ride and he made all of the running in the familiar silks of Mrs Joe Donnelly.

Mullins said: “That was a hell of a performance. To make all in a Brown Advisory and then fight off what is a top horse in Final Demand – I thought Final Demand would have had his measure coming up the hill – what a brave performance.”

This was Kitzbuhel’s second Grade 1 win in three starts but in his previous outing he unseated in the Scilly Isles Chase at Sandown.

Mullins excelled himself with his fifth Grade 1 winner of the meeting in the day’s showpiece race, the Queen Mother Champion Chase when 5-2 second favourite Il Etait Temps won unopposed, despite a scare at the final fence.

As notable as the winner’s performance was the flop by the odds-on favourite and stable companion Majborough who raced freely in front and whose jumping deteriorated the longer the race went on. He was beaten after walloping the third last fence.

As the field span into the homestretch, Townend was motionless, oozing confidence on the grey Il Etait Temps with his rivals under severe pressure. Way clear at the final fence, the pair pitched on landing but maintained their balance to clear out by 10 lengths.

“I thought Paul was very brave on him because he couldn’t go the pace they were setting for the first mile; he sat and sat, and coming down the hill we could all see that the further he was going, the better he was going. I nearly had a heart attack at the last fence though! But the horse has come to himself at last,” Mullins said.

“Taking the hood off and this ground made a big difference to him as well, I’d say. That was by some way his best performance at Cheltenham. I was wondering if he was a horse that didn’t like this place? But when we went through his form, we found excuses for every run, and perhaps it wasn’t so bad after all.”

In case there was any doubt, Mullins sealed yet another Leading Trainer crown at Cheltenham with a superb treble on the Friday to bring his haul for the week to eight wins in total. Remarkably, all bar one of those came at Grade 1 level.

Apolon De Charnie began the fun on the final day in the Triumph Hurdle. The largely unconsidered 40-1 shot - one of nine runners for Mullins in the Grade 1 for 4yos – won on his first run for Mullins since his transfer from France. He came with a strong run after the final hurdle in the hands of the trainer’s son Patrick, his first Grade 1 winner at the meeting. The margin of victory from English fancy Maestro Conti was a length and a half.

“He was fantastic. He’s not very big, I don’t normally watch the juveniles at home, but he just caught my eye. I got a dream run everywhere,” the jockey said having worked hard to do the weight of 11-2.

“I’m very proud of my father. I’ve never seen him doubt himself as much as he has this winter. He keeps getting a lot of advice from people saying he’s doing this wrong or that wrong, but he sticks to his guns and he gets it right most of the time.”

Dinoblue was the middle pin of the Closutton treble on Friday, battling to a margin just shy of two lengths in the Grade 2 Mares’ Chase. Mark Walsh did the steering on the 11-8 favourite who was winning the race for the second year straight.

Mullins said: “She’s a lovely mare. They’re a good match, Mark and Dinoblue. Her jumping was extraordinary, and if you had a horse which jumped like that every day of the week, it would make this game very easy.”

The talk surrounding the 2026 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup centred on how open the race was. More than half of the ten runners held genuine winning chances. It was wide open. Turns out, it wasn’t anything like that and more Mullins magic meant the prize returned to County Carlow.

Gaelic Warrior won this for fun. Still on the bridle with his rivals toiling between the final two fences, he bounded clear by eight lengths at the line at odds of 11-4 joint favourite. English rival Jango Baie ran second.

It was jockey Paul Townend’s fifth win in the race, surpassing the record of the great Pat Taaffe. For Mullins, it was also win number five in the most prestigious jumps race of them all, to match trainer Tom Dreaper’s spoils between 1946 and 1968.

Owner Rich Ricci became the first owner since Dorothy Paget in 1940 to win the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup in the same week after Lossiemouth’s heroics just three days earlier.

“Gaelic Warrior got everything right and just put in a tremendous round of jumping. We can’t ask for better than that. Jumping and ability, fantastic for owner and jockey,” Mullins said.

Townend added later: “We were dealt a blow with Galopin Des Champs and Patrick (Mullins), who was substituted out then at the last minute, and I was fortunate enough to come in for the ride. Patrick has done a lot of work with this horse at home, and he deserves a lot of credit for this as well.”

The old phrase ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’ might have coined for the marvellous veteran Home By The Lee who finally won the Grade 1 Stayers Hurdle at the fifth attempt last week.

Trained by Joseph O’Brien and expertly steered by JJ Slevin, the 11-year-old found reserves from God knows where to eke out a length-plus margin from Ballyburn. Most people had thought his chance had surely gone, but those kept the faith were rewarded at 33-1.

“He’s all stamina and JJ gave him a fantastic ride. He made all the right moves at every stage. Of all the horses I’ve ever trained he’s the winningmost in number of wins – 12 now. We’ve had him since maybe he just turned four, so he’s been there a long time,” O’Brien said.

“He loves his work, loves his job, loves his racing and has never had a lame step in his life. He’s a superstar.”

Slevin said: “I’ve been with him every step of the way and that’s down to two people, Sean and Rose O’Driscoll. I’ve had good days and also had bad days, and it’s on the bad days that you need people behind you. He’s been a great horse.”