6 Willie Mullins horses looking to follow up at Cheltenham

Time Stamp: February 22, 2022 3:00 AM

Willie Mullins is the most-successful Cheltenham Festival trainer in history with a staggering 78 winners, and he’s set to head to the 2022 Cheltenham Festival with another strong squad.

Team Mullins won six of the Grade 1 contests at the recent Dublin Racing Festival, banking over €750k in prize money, and here we take a closer look at those six winners and rate their chances of following up at next month’s Cheltenham Festival.

 

Minella Cocooner

Minella Cocooner landed the opening race of the Dublin Racing Festival under Danny Mullins, and he’s now into 5/1 for the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham, having been as big as 20/1.

He does still hold an entry in the Ballymore also, though, for which he is 8/1, and Willie Mullins refused to be drawn on which race he’s likely to take in at Cheltenham.

With stablemate Sir Gerhard the current ante-post favourite for the Ballymore, though, connections may decide to step Minella Cocooner up in trip for the Albert Bartlett and the way he stayed on at Leopardstown highlighted that the extra distance should be no issue.

 

Vauban

Irish horses look set to dominate the Triumph Hurdle this year, and Vauban is now 5/2 joint-favourite for the opening race on Gold Cup day following his impressive victory at the Dublin Racing Festival.

He powered through the race in the famous Rich Ricci colours to hold off the Gordon Elliott trained Fil Dor and looks set to clash once more with Pied Piper in the Triumph in what should be an enthralling battle on the final day of the Festival.

 

Blue Lord

With Ferny Hollow ruled out for the season, this year’s Arkle at Cheltenham looks a wide-open race, and Blue Lord cemented his place at the head of the ante-post betting market with a battling victory at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Blue Lord and Riviere D’Etel battled it out up the Leopardstown straight, and both look set to clash once more in the Arkle alongside the Alan King trained Edwardstone in what could be one of the races of the week.

And with improvement still to come from Blue Lord, it would be no shock to see him land this year’s Arkle.

 

Galopin Des Champs

Winner of the Martin Pipe Conditional at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, Galopin Des Champs is many peoples banker of the week at this year’s Festival.

He’s now odds-on in places for the Festival Novices Chase on the back of two stunning victories over fences, including at the Dublin Racing Festival.

He’s already the ante-post favourite for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup, highlighting how highly regarded he is, and it will be a shock if he’s not in the winner’s enclosure once more at Cheltenham next month.

 

Chacun Pour Soi

Chacun Pour Soi won the Dublin Chase for the third year in a row, and he’s set to head to Cheltenham once more as he looks to land his first-ever victory at the Festival.

Sent off odds-on in last year’s Champion Chase, he looks to have a big task this time around though taking on Shishkin and stablemate Energumene in a hot-looking race.

As big as 13/2 in places, he does look like a solid each-way bet if he was to run to the best of his ability.

 

Sir Gerhard

Winner of the Champion Bumper at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, Sir Gerhard has enjoyed a smooth and successful transition to hurdles this season.

After powering to victory at the Dublin Racing Festival, he’s now into 4/1 for the Supreme Novices’ and 3/1 for the Ballymore at Cheltenham.

Connections are still to confirm what race he will target at the Cheltenham Festival, but the chat in recent days is that a tilt at the Ballymore is more likely rather than the hustle and bustle of the Supreme over the shorter distance.

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