Cheltenham Countdown: Tough going forces Mullins to be selective

Speaking last year after Laurina had provided him with a record-breaking 61^st winner at the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins admitted to feeling a sense of incredulity at what has followed in the 23 years since Tourist Attraction helped him fulfil a lifelong ambition.

“When you start training you hope for one winner here,” he explained. “That is the greatest aspiration most Irish trainers have. This isn’t something we ever dreamt of because we thought we couldn’t do that with a base in Ireland.’

It’s true that you couldn’t in years gone by. Vincent O’Brien and Arkle’s trainer Tom Dreaper had set the standard for Irish trainers at Cheltenham with totals of 23 and 26 mainly compiled in the 50s and 60s, respectively, while Mullins himself was still sandwiched between that pair at the conclusion of the 2012 Festival, with wins that week for Quevega (Mares’ Hurdle) and Champagne Fever (Champion Bumper) taking his tally to 24.

That the other 37 winners have all come in the last six years is quite remarkable. It is testament to the hard work that is done by all the staff at Closutton, but also to the relentless ambition of the man whose name is above the door. It is impossible to find out everything you want to know on a brief visit such as this, but what is clear to see is the investment that has gone into making this place the superpower it has become in recent years; there are trainers across the UK and Ireland who would love to be able to fill just one of the countless stable blocks that make up the yard.

As for the equine talent that is currently housed within them, more on that later. For now, it is another of the vast array of facilities that commands attention, specifically the all-weather gallop that has kept the string ticking along and kept their trainer sane in this year's build up to Cheltenham - one that has tested Mullins' patience perhaps more than in any other year.

We’re live @WillieMullinsNH Closutton yard this morning looking ahead to #TheFestival pic.twitter.com/NzsLJA5YI7

— Racenews (@RacenewsService) February 20, 2019

Put simply, the entire programme in Ireland has been sent into disarray by the prolonged dry spell, which Mullins has probably felt the effects of more than anyone else. He estimates that he has between eight and ten novice hurdlers who have not made it to the track as the wait for rain continues, including two of the first five from last season’s Champion Bumper, Carefully Selected and Blackbow. It is a broadly similar situation with the novice chasers, and Mullins is quick to recall a remarkable statistic that lays bare just how unusual the weather has been in recent months.

“I was looking at a great stat the other day. There's usually heavy ground in Ireland 82% of the time in the months of December, January and February. This time it's been heavy for only 18% of the meetings in those months. That says a lot. We’ve had ground that you wouldn’t even work horses on. It’s been hugely frustrating, but you’d rather have that frustration than run and get them injured.”

A look through the list of Mullins’ potential Cheltenham runners reveals just how conservative he has been. Un de Sceaux, a horse who is said to ‘need’ heavy ground at this stage of his career, has run only once, when chasing home Altior in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown. Meanwhile, Benie des Dieux will attempt to defend her Mares’ Hurdle crown on what will be her first start of the season, having missed several potential engagements over the course of the last few months. 

For others, time has run out altogether to get them ready for Cheltenham, explaining why Mullins expects to send a smaller team over than when enjoying such great success there in recent years. And, for a team well accustomed to having the favourite for four of the first five races on the opening day alone, this year’s squad is seemingly light on standout contenders, too.

“If you were to look at the markets, you'd have to say our team is weaker than other years,” Mullins concedes. “And I don’t think we’ll have as big a team as we usually have, we just haven’t been able to get them out. We’ll probably have a few more in the handicaps, but we’ll probably send around 40 compared to the usual sort of 60. We’ll have a lot more runners for Punchestown… I hope if this weather ever breaks!”

Mullins expects to be particularly light in the novice chasing ranks – he nominates Ballyward (National Hunt Chase) as the pick of them, with Cilaos Emery a doubt for the Arkle after damaging a ligament when schooling at the weekend – but he can take consolation from the fact that he will send arguably his strongest ever team of horses into battle for the feature race of the meeting, the Gold Cup.

What a finish to the feature! Bellshill is now a five-time Grade 1 winner with victory in the Unibet Irish Gold Cup for Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins at @LeopardstownRC #DRF

Results ➡ https://t.co/7iJOPsdIyZ pic.twitter.com/gGLkpJyfnP

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 3, 2019

Having saddled the runner-up in four of the last six renewals, it is clear how much winning the Blue Riband would mean to Mullins, and he is optimistic of doing so with one of his four principal contenders – Al Boum Photo, Bellshill, Kemboy and Invitation Only – of whom Bellshill received particularly favourable mentions from his trainer.

“It would be nice to win it (the Gold Cup),” Mullins grins. “And I’d like to think we have as good a chance as any. You can make cases for them all, but I think Bellshill could be the one who has more scope for improvement in him. He has the stamina and his jumping was spectacular at Leopardstown. He’s probably now the horse we always thought he would be, he had been a bit in-and-out but it’s all coming together now – he’s improving all the time.”

Mullins also looks set to be well-represented in the Champion Hurdle, with his five entries at this stage including last year’s runner-up Melon and Sharjah, who has won his last two starts in Grade 1 company. However, when listening to Mullins go through his contenders, you can’t escape the impression that Laurina is the number one hope as he bid for a fifth win in the race, and he was suitably encouraged after seeing her win readily at Punchestown later in the day, while admitting that her preparation had been far from ideal.

Laurina (@Timeform rated 150p) and Ruby Walsh are led back in after winning the listed Quevega Mares’ Hurdle @punchestownrace pic.twitter.com/7swJbnbcKV

— Adam Houghton (@hought94) February 20, 2019

“She is a very, very good mare and the Champion Hurdle has been the plan all along. That's where we're aiming for, but things can change. Last week she got her flu jab and she missed a week's training. It wasn't ideal, I wanted last week to sharpen her up so she'd be ready for today and next thing we had to take a pull, totally. I'm very happy with her knowing what we've done at home in her work coming into a meeting like this. We'll have to sharpen her up now.”

With Buveur d’Air and Apple’s Jade heading the likely opposition, it remains to be seen whether even a razor sharp Laurina is good enough to put it up to them, but one thing is for sure, and that is that there is no finer craftsman for the job than Mullins.