Willie Mullins will not be represented in Sunday's Grade One feature, but the champion trainer appears to have a major chance of repeating last season's domination of the three other top-flight prizes up for grabs at Leopardstown.
Only Valsuer Lido’s dramatic last-fence exit in the Stan James Irish Gold Cup looked to prevent a Grade One clean sweep for Mullins a year ago. The Gigginstown star fluffed his lines after earlier victories for Footpad, Bleu Et Rouge and Outlander on the sole programme in Irish racing to contain four top class races.
This time Mullins has no entry in the weekend centrepiece, but the ante-post RSA favourite Bellshill will attempt to make it three from three over fences in the Flogas Novice Chase, while Mullins has seven of the dozen horses remaining in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle.
“Bellshill will probably run, and Bleu Et Rouge could go for the same race,” he said before nominating the Christmas Grade 1 winner Saturnas as a probable starter in the Deloitte.
Bellshill is one of eight left in the Flogas which was won last year by Outlander. The Gigginstown team has left in five hopefuls this time, while Our Duke will attempt to follow up his Christmas Grade 1 success for Jessica Harrington.
Christmas winner
The Mullins-trained
Bapaume
was another Christmas winner, and along with Gordon Elliott’s Dinaria Des Obeaux he is currently the shortest priced Irish hopeful in many betting lists for next month’s Triumph Hurdle. Both are among the 14 hopefuls still left in Sunday’s Spring Juvenile Hurdle.
Joseph O’Brien could pitch three JP McManus-owned juveniles into that race with Bhutan in line to make his eagerly anticipated debut over jumps alongside Landofhopeandglory and Housesofparliament.
The grey son of Galileo beat Housesofparliament on his sole start to date last April, and was part of an impressive batch of ex-Ballydoyle flat horses purchased by McManus last autumn.
"He was a little bit behind schedule compared to the others but he jumps well and could run on Sunday alongside Landofhopeandglory and Housesofparliament," said McManus's racing manager Frank Berry.
Despite a series of reverses for some of Mullins’s star performers this season – including Faugheen’s defection from the Champion Hurdle on Monday – Ireland’s dominant trainer of the past decade remains a 4-9 favourite to be leading trainer at Cheltenham. Ladbrokes made Mullins only 5-1 to train at least eight winners at the festival.
Betting lists
Yorkhill is a hot Mullins favourite for the JLT, but following Faugheen’s injury setback he is also prominent in betting lists for the Champion Hurdle.
Ruby Walsh
has, however, appeared to play down the chances of the horse switching back to flights. “We made a decision earlier in the season to go chasing with him and I’d imagine that’s what we will do,” said the champion jockey.
“He would have to be supplemented, and I’d imagine to do that you’d have to be very, very, very, very happy with him.
“We did it last year with Annie Power. She was bombing and we thought it was the right thing to do. To do it with Yorkhill, you’d have to be convinced it was the right thing to do,” said Walsh.
