Willie Mullins is an all-conquering Irish trainer who dominates jump racing; unfortunately for his peers, Mullins shows no sign of slowing down. He is arguably the greatest trainer that the sport has ever seen, and other trainers across the UK and Ireland are simply miles behind when it comes to the vast amount of top-level horses that Mullins’s yard possesses.
Mullins’s Cheltenham 2023 Squad
Always an intimidating sight. The Willie Mullins string stretching their legs. pic.twitter.com/c5mAVcn8LB
— Nick Robson (@ValueRacingPlus) March 13, 2023
Galopin Des Champs
If there was such a thing as a captain of team Mullins, Galopin Des Champs would get the armband. Des Champs has been the most impressive horse over fences in the last two seasons and is considered to be one of the best Cheltenham Festival bets for 2023 and is the current 6/4 favourite for this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Energumene
With the likes of Galopin Des Champs and Energumene representing Mullins at this year’s Festival, it’s no surprise that he is ahead of the rest as the 1/8 favourite in the top trainer odds for Cheltenham. Energumene will be looking to retain his Champion Chase crown in 2023, and although he has some talented rivals to deal with, he could well give his trainer yet another festival win.
Gaillard Du Mesnil
The shortest price of Willie Mullins’s horses in the betting markets is the National Hunt Chase contender, Gaillard Du Mesnil. A classy horse that has yet to finish out of the first three in 13 starts for his trainer, he will be ridden by Willie’s son, Patrick. The father and son combo have won this stamina-testing race three times in the last ten years, so the omens are good for Gaillard Du Mesnil to join in with the family celebrations this year.
▪️ Diverge
▪️ Echoes In Rain
▪️ Gaillard Du Mesnil
▪️ Mr Incredible
▪️ Gaelic Warrior
▪️ Stattler🗣 Patrick Mullins on some nice rides at Cheltenham next week – plus bullish updates on Impaire Et Passe and Facile Vega! pic.twitter.com/a9cAjwVZZB
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 12, 2023
Facile Vega
The weakest of his trainer’s ante-post favourites in 2023 is Supreme Novices’ Hurdle challenger, Facile Vega. Mullins has never hidden his adoration for his young hurdler, but preparations for the festival took a knock last time with the son of the brilliant mare, Quevega, beaten 20 lengths at Leopardstown. Excuses can be made for that run and although he needs to bounce back quickly, there’s no doubting his ability.
El Fabiolo
The Arkle Chase was for a long time thought to be a walk in the park for the Nicky Henderson-trained, Jonbon. Things can change quickly in racing and it is now Willie Mullins’, El Fabiolo that head’s the betting markets.
Jonbon was well below par in his warm-up race but in contrast, El Fabiolo was very impressive in the Irish Arkle last time and will arrive at Cheltenham as the in-form horse. It’ll be an interesting battle between the two, but at the moment, it looks like El Fabiolo’s race to lose.
These are just four of the horses that will be looking to help their trainer surpass his record of 10 winners over the four days last season. If all of his big hopes perform to their highest level, then that record is very likely to come falling down once again in 2023.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
