Mullins Horses 2014-15

[mayo]

3.35 Betfair Hurdle (Grade 3 Handicap)

Wicklow Brave (Ruby Walsh)


He has been given a break since disappointing over this course and distance in November. He appears in good form and has a nice weight and the assistance of Ruby. He could be good each-way value at the price.


1pm Download The Titanbet App Novices’ Hurdle


Arbre De Vie (Paul Townend)

He is in good form and, with so many novices in the yard, we decided to let him travel over with Glens Melody. The extra furlong here will suit and we are hoping for a real good run.

2.40pm OLBG.com Mares’ Hurdle (Listed)

Glens Melody (Paul Townend)

She won this race last year and is coming back to form after a nice run at Naas last month. She should be very competitive again today.



Vroum Vroum Mag (Danny Mullins)

She is three from three for us but she will have to be at the top of her game if she is to continue the winning sequence here. However we think a lot of her and she could go in again.

3.40 Bet Online At thetote.com Beginners Chase

Blood Cotil (Danny Mullins)

He did very well over this course and distance last time where he was nearly brought down at the first fence. With a clear round today he must have a huge chance of making amends.

4.45 Go Racing In Kildare (Pro/Am) Flat Race

Pylonthepressure (Patrick Mullins)

He looked good when winning at Thurles and the extra three furlongs here will suit this long-striding son of Darsi. Space Cadet will be hard to beat but we won’t be far away at the business end.

[mayo]

13:15 Gala Retail Spring Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 1)

Kalkir (Ruby Walsh)

He was a little disappointing over this course and distance at Christmas but we think he will put that behind him and show much better form today. Petite Parisienne (BJ Cooper) looked unlucky on her first run so on that basis we are letting her take her chance here rather than going for a maiden. She has each-way prospects.

14:15 Deloitte Novice Hurdle (Grade 1)


Alvisio Ville (A P McCoy)

He had everyone talking after winning a maiden hurdle here at Christmas. He is as impressive at home and on that basis has every chance here. The only drawback is his lack of experience for a grade one like this.


Nichols Canyon (Ruby Walsh)

He will appreciate this longer trip and we are hoping he will return to his best form today.


Mckinley (David Casey)

He was a surprise winner of a grade one at Naas last time. There was no fluke about that performance but we are a little concerned that we might be running him again a bit soon.


Sempre Medici (Paul Townend)

He ran very well at Kempton last time and is in great form at home. He is improving all the time but his jumping needs to improve.

14:45 Flogas Novice Chase (Grade 1)

Valseur Lido (B J Cooper)

He has done nothing wrong so far and is improving all the time as he goes up in trip. He has had an uninterrupted preparation and we are hoping he will show his Cheltenham credentials today


Jarry D’honneur (A P McCoy)

He has done nothing wrong so far and is improving all the time as he goes up in trip. He has had an uninterrupted preparation and we are hoping he will show his Cheltenham credentials today.


Adriana Des Mottes (Ruby Walsh)

She will like the trip and ground and gets a valuable age and mares’ allowance. She could run very well.

15:50 Hennessy Gold Cup (Grade 1)


Ruby has picked On His Own and with his rating and the way he ran at Christmas it is probably the right choice. He is in great form at home and will improve with the drier ground.



Paul always gets a nice tune out of Boston Bob and has good prospects if On His Own doesn’t run up to form.

16:20 Raymond Smith Memorial Hunters Chase
pdb

Prince De Beauchene ( Patrick Mullins)

He won very well at Thurles last time and will appreciate this ground. There are two previous Cheltenham winners I this race but their recent form might be suspect so we are hoping for the best.

16:50 Leopardstown Club Membership (Pro/Am) Flat Race


Potters Point (Patrick Mullins)

He was unlucky to run up against a very good rival at Naas. If we are not running him back too quickly he will be very well suited by this galloping track and should go close again.

[Hoof]

Audio Cheltenham Preview

https://soundcloud.com/sportinglife/willie-mullins-pre-cheltenham

[Moscow]

Arctic Fire: "I am not discounting Arctic Fire in the Champion Hurdle. He is improving all the time. He was beaten a head in the Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle last year and horses have come on from that to win the Champion Hurdle. He has always shown me plenty at home and when he was a three-year-old I thought this fella was better than any of them. I still don't think we have seen the best of him. He will love the strong pace at Cheltenham and we know he likes the track. If he doesn't win at Cheltenham, he will win a good race over hurdles at some point."

Alvisio Ville: "He is still in the Supreme and Neptune Novices' Hurdles. We have taken him out of the Albert Bartlett, although I would have left him in it. I would imagine connections are favouring the Supreme."

Annie Power: "She is in great form and has hit every target we have set her. My aim at the moment is the OLBG Mares' Hurdle. We will see what happens with the World Hurdle, but it will be a tough ask going three miles first time out in Cheltenham. She will probably be a bit fresher as well and that is another point to consider. You can say she didn't have the stamina last year because of the fact she didn't settle."

Ballycasey: "He is in the Ryanair Chase and a couple of handicaps. He will probably travel because there are not a lot of options for him. I think he is better than he showed at Ascot."

Black Hercules: "He is in good form and is more than likely to go for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle."

Boston Bob: "I was disappointed with him the last day. He will go for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup instead of the Ryanair Chase because if he won that, everyone would be asking why he didn't go for the Gold Cup."

Champagne Fever: "I would imagine, with the way the cards are falling, Champagne Fever will go for the Champion Chase. You would think after his performance at Gowran that he should go for the Ryanair Chase but I think we're favouring the Champion. He jumped fantastically and really enjoyed it at the weekend. It was great to see him back in that sort of form and he has been on fire since. He has won twice and been beaten a short-head in three runs over two miles at Cheltenham. You probably need a two and a half miler to win the Champion Chase anyway, so I'd rather have a crack at that and fail than go for the Ryanair."

Djakadam: "He is on course for the Gold Cup and I think the extra couple of furlongs will help him. If you look at our three horses in the Gold Cup, his latest performance was the best of the three even though it was only a handicap. Gowran is a fair test of any horse, especially in that ground. He had seasoned handicappers slogging away in behind him while Ruby was swinging from four out. He had top-weight as well and I think it was a Gold Cup performance. I am putting a line through his run at Newbury. We could not get a run into him beforehand because of the dry weather and he wasn't fit enough."

Don Poli: "I nominated the National Hunt Chase for Don Poli back in November but I think the Gigginstown team and Bryan Cooper are favouring the RSA Chase. A lot will depend on what they want to do as they have a lot of horses in both races. I look at his style of running and think the four-miler will really suit him. I love his style of racing and since they changed the conditions, I think the four-miler is becoming a classier race. I thought Valseur Lido was an RSA horse but I think connections want to go for the JLT Novices' Chase. They also have Very Wood for the four-miler and one or two others, so it will depend on where they go."

Douvan: "He is very good and there have been no problems. He is marked in for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, end of story. He has got lots of ability and each time we ask him to do something, he comes up with the answer. He just does everything right and is as nice a horse as we have ever had going to Cheltenham. He is a fair machine."

Discosimo: "He will hopefully go for the JCB Triumph Hurdle. He is in on Sunday (at Naas) and I will decide if he runs after he works later in the week. The form of his win at Gowran suggests he might be the best of our three in the Triumph."

Faugheen: "He is doing everything right. Nigel Twiston-Davies has questioned what Faugheen has beaten and I am going to side with him on that for the time being! I thought Faugheen might go chasing this season but, when we analysed everything and looked at the fact that he hadn't been beaten, everyone was keener for him to go back hurdling and Vautour to go chasing. To have a potential champion hurdler in the yard is huge, rather than a horse going for the Arkle. We thought Vautour could possibly win an Arkle and possibly be a Gold Cup horse one day and we weren't as sure about Faugheen doing that. I did not want to travel to England again for a prep run and I didn't want to take on Hurricane Fly in the Irish Champion. We prepared Faugheen for the Red Mills Trial but, after a good discussion with Ruby, we felt he didn't need any more experience. We looked up the stats and have seen plenty of horses that have gone straight from Kempton to Cheltenham without a run. I think people look too much into stats, especially ones only going back 10 years or so. I prefer to look back 25 or 30 years."

[Moscow]

Full Screen
The champion trainer discusses the latest plans for his main Festival runners

Willie Mullins hosted a media visit organised by Cheltenham Racecourse

Glens Melody: "She is very good and has done everything right this year. She showed last year that she is well up to winning a mares' hurdle and the OLBG Mares' Hurdle is her aim again."

Hurricane Fly: "He has done everything right this season. If he was two or three years younger, he would definitely be favourite as he has done everything a clear favourite should have. People say he can't win because of his age but he is class. Some people say he doesn't run his best in Cheltenham but I am not so sure. He has won two Champion Hurdles from four starts and I think I had two good excuses for the times he got beaten.

"When he was really right going into Cheltenham, he has won. Horses have to be really right on the day or they will struggle. I felt going into his last two runs last season that he wasn't sparking as he can - he was just going through the motions. So far this year, he has not shown any of those signs. Paul Townend rides him and is a great indicator. He can tell me down to the ants how the horse is training and is giving me positive feedback all the time.

"It would be my dream result for the whole of Cheltenham if Hurricane Fly could win a third Champion Hurdle. He is our king but if Faugheen rises and wins it, then there is obviously great potential there to win another."

Kalkir: "He is set for the JCB Triumph Hurdle now. He put in a very good performance behind our mare at Leopardstown last time and I think he will improve from that."

Max Dynamite: "He may run this weekend and that will tell us more, but I think he is more of a Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle horse."

McKinley: "I don't know what we are going to do with McKinley, but my initial thought would be the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle."

Nichols Canyon: "I reckon he will end up in the Neptune. He will have no problem staying the extra distance and some people have said he could be another Inglis Drever for his owner. He stays two miles on the flat and can go out to any trip."

On His Own: "He has so much stamina and the Gold Cup is all about stamina. He jumps well enough, although he gives up a bit of ground going out to the right, and the test really suits him. He loves an end to end gallop and I am hoping he will be there again at the finish."

Outlander: "It will more than likely be the Neptune for Outlander. I think he has Neptune written all over him. He disappointed me in Limerick and, because of that, probably surprised me a bit when he won in Leopardstown."

Petite Parisienne: "It was not a surprise when she won last time out as she was very unlucky not to win first time up at Punchestown. She is a very classy mare and will have a good chance in the JCB Triumph Hurdle."

Pont Alexandre: "It will be a struggle for him to make Cheltenham but I have given him a couple of entries. He is just all right and it will probably be Fairyhouse or Punchestown for him. He would have to surprise me over the next couple of weeks."

Shaneshill: "I will have to see how he works in the build-up because he missed a bit of time. He is coming back and, because the owners (Graham and Andrea Wylie) have Black Hercules for the Albert Bartlett and Nichols Canyon for the Neptune, he may end up in the Supreme. That is the plan at the moment but he has a good bit of work to do first."

Tell Us More: "He will go for the Supreme or the Neptune but it will depend how he gallops between now and then. I would prefer to keep him to the Neptune, but he has to come back right and please me at home before he goes to Cheltenham at all."

Un De Sceaux: "He has made a brilliant transition to fences. We didn't take on the best over hurdles last season, although he went to France and beat the best over there. If he takes to jumping fences in Cheltenham he is going to put up a big show in the Arkle. It is going to be a huge test for him given his style of racing - he goes flat out. He is the type of chaser you love to train. He is a proper two-miler and is really exciting to watch. His style of racing is heart stopping almost but that's the way he is. Punters and bookmakers have decided that if he stays up, he wins and I am happy to go along with that!"

Valseur Lido: "I think the gap between the Drinmore and his last run was the reason he got beat. He will improve for that. What wins the Moriarty usually goes on to the RSA Chase and that's the way I would like to go with him, but it might not suit Gigginstown and their other horses, so I can see him going for the JLT. He will be a contender in both races and I feel the further he goes, the easier he is going to do it."

Vautour: "If something happens to Un De Sceaux, he could go for the Arkle but at the moment Vautour is going for the JLT. He won the other day but I still have a good bit of work to do to get him back where he was last December. He will do that this week and next week and I think it will come.

I think he can go any trip. He is bred to stay but has the stride and speed for two miles. The JLT is where I want to go with him."

Vroum Vroum Mag: "She is in three or four races at Cheltenham but I doubt she will go. There is a mares' race in Limerick and she will probably go there, but we will see."

[Hoof]

Ricci on ATR

[Morning Glory]