The weather may have been grey, grim and unrelentingly wet with sleeting rain in Co Carlow yesterday, but there was little to dampen Willie Mullins’s enthusiasm for his prospects at Cheltenham, to which he will send a daunting raiding party of up to 60. Despite the setbacks that have denied him Faugheen, Arctic Fire and Killultagh Vic, Mullins still has what looks like a nap hand at the Festival where last year he had a record-breaking eight winners.
He reported a clean bill of health among his remaining stable stars, which has lifted his mood and lends him hope, if not expectation, that emulating last March’s exploits may be feasible. To do so would mean having to raise the bar that he set 12 months ago. Then, he admitted yesterday, he was privately very confident that he would achieve something special. This time he is more cautious.
“I would be delighted if we got eight winners or even half that amount,” Mullins said. “The amount of expectation put up by the media is huge. We try not to get carried away and keep a balanced view of our horses. It is just about getting your own horses there in one piece and, as we have seen, that can be hard enough.
“Every trainer’s target is to get one on the board. We go to the Festival in hope, whereas other people go expecting us to have four or more winners. Eight is a huge figure and, although we did it last year, everything went right and it rarely does in those championship races. It only takes one mistake.”
The roll call of charges at his disposal and the glut of riches is still almost embarrassingly impressive. Besides Vautour and Don Poli, among those he schooled at Leopardstown on Sunday evening was Douvan, the ace in his pack in the Racing Post Arkle Trophy, in what could well be another Super Tuesday a fortnight today.
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“I am happier this morning than I was before the weekend and I’m hoping to keep that feeling between now and the Festival,” Mullins said. “They all seem fine. They had all worked on Saturday so we didn’t want to do any fast work [at Leopardstown]. It was a more a jumping session to get them out.”
Not unnaturally, a first Timico Gold Cup win remains his chief focus. Mullins is confident Vautour will dispel suggestions that he may not stay the trip. “We will have to see,” he said. “Traditionally our horses would not be as fit at Christmas as they are in March. He has always been way better when it comes to Cheltenham. I think with different tactics he should easily stay.”
After falling at Cheltenham on Trials’ Day and sustaining a cut to his chest that required 30 stitches and interrupted his preparations, Djakadam is back on track. “He is doing plenty of work,” Mullins said. “There is still more to do but I am very happy with where he is.”
And Don Poli? “He is in good order. He loves Cheltenham and the hill. He is not the fastest horse in the world, but the extra two and a half furlongs in the Gold Cup is exactly what he wants and I think he has enough speed.”
With Vroum Vroum Mag on course for the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle, Annie Power will go for the Stan James Champion Hurdle. “I don’t think the trip will be a problem for her,” Mullins said. “We have six horses here who, if they were with other yards, would be aimed at the Champion Hurdle and she is as quick as any of them. I think it might actually be easier for her to race over two miles with the sort of pace they will be going. It will be easier to ride her anyhow.”
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Mullins reported Un De Sceaux, another hot favourite, is in terrific order. “I would love it if the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase was tomorrow,” he said.
One surprise is that Black Hercules is unlikely to tackle the National Hunt Chase, for which he was ante-post favourite. He will instead run in either the RSA Chase or the JLT Novices’ Chase.