Willie Mullins on The Race Lab

Five Seconds, Then Five Wins: How Mullins Finally Mastered the Gold Cup

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

For the best part of a decade, the Gold Cup was the race that tortured Willie Mullins. Five times between 2006 and 2016, he sent out the runner-up. On His Own was beaten by a short head — 0.06 lengths — in 2014. Djakadam finished second in consecutive years. Sir Des Champs had every chance at the last in 2013 before being outpaced. Hedgehunter plugged on into second back in 2006.

Il Etait Temps Wins the Champion Chase: Four Festival Runs, One Fall, and Finally a Cheltenham Winner

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Il Etait Temps won the Queen Mother Champion Chase this afternoon, beating Libberty Hunter under Paul Townend. The eight-year-old nearly threw it away with a mistake at the last fence, but held on to give Willie Mullins a third winner of the day.

The headline result is compelling enough. What makes it extraordinary is everything that came before it.

Three Festivals, No Cigar

Before today, Il Etait Temps had run at the Cheltenham Festival three times. He’d never won.

Lossiemouth Makes It Six From Eleven: The Champion Hurdle Has Become a Mares' Race

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Lossiemouth bolted up in the Champion Hurdle this afternoon, beating Brighterdaysahead by six and a half lengths under Paul Townend. A proper demolition job that extended her perfect Cheltenham record to five wins from five starts.

But the bigger story isn’t about one horse. It’s about what’s happened to the Champion Hurdle over the past decade.

The Numbers Are Stark

We pulled every Champion Hurdle result since 2003 from our database. In the first 13 runnings (2003-2015), zero mares won. Not one. A handful ran, none troubled the judge.

El Fabiolo and the Chasing Dropouts: Do Horses Who Quit Fences Actually Win Over Hurdles?

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

El Fabiolo won by 21 lengths at Leopardstown yesterday. Twenty-one lengths. Over hurdles. After a chasing career that ended with three falls in his last five starts over fences, including a grim sequence at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown last spring.

The nine-year-old looked like a different horse. Paul Townend barely moved on him. And the obvious question now is whether he turns up at the Festival in a couple of weeks, maybe in the Champion Hurdle or the County, and whether anyone should take the switch seriously.

The Age Wall: Why History Is Against Galopin Des Champs

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

There’s a genuine debate this week about whether Fact To File will be supplemented for the Gold Cup, with Willie Mullins pointing out that JP McManus sees the situation differently to the press and the punters. That’s an interesting storyline. But the bigger question — the one that doesn’t get asked enough — is whether Galopin Des Champs can actually win a third Gold Cup at the age of ten.

Five From Six: Mullins' Stranglehold on the Triumph Hurdle

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Willie Mullins has won the Triumph Hurdle five times in the last six years. Read that again. Five from six. Vauban, Lossiemouth, Majborough, Burning Victory, and last year’s 100/1 shock Poniros. The only year he missed out was 2021, when Henry de Bromhead’s Quilixios took it.

That record would be remarkable in any race. In a Grade 1 at the Cheltenham Festival, where British trainers send their best juveniles every March, it’s borderline absurd.

Mullins' Gowran Park Four-Timer Shows the Cheltenham Machine Is Firing

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Willie Mullins sent four winners home from Gowran Park on Saturday — and if you’ve been paying attention to his record at the Kilkenny track, that shouldn’t surprise you in the slightest.

Impaire Et Passe, Storm Heart, Madness D’Elle, and King Alexander all obliged on Red Mills Day. It was a clean sweep that underlined both the depth of the Closutton operation and Mullins’ particular fondness for a course that sits just over the hill from his Carlow base.

Impaire Et Passe Returns From 291 Days Off to Win Gowran — Where Next?

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0000

When a horse wins on its first start in 291 days, you pay attention. When that horse is a former Cheltenham Festival winner with entries in the Ryanair Chase, Gold Cup, and Grand National, you pay very close attention.

Impaire Et Passe returned to action in Saturday’s Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park and got the job done in the style that has defined his career — held up, travelling sweetly, then finding plenty when asked. Held up in rear, he made a mistake at two out but kept on well to lead close home, winning the Grade 2 on heavy ground.

Mullins Arms Himself With Two Previous Winners as Grand National Entries Revealed

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

The initial entry list for the 2026 Randox Grand National has landed, and one name dominates the trainer column: Willie Mullins. With 15 horses entered — including the last two Grand National winners — the Closutton maestro has the Aintree showpiece in a stranglehold.

No trainer has ever saddled the last two Grand National winners simultaneously in the same renewal. If both I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett line up on April 4th, Mullins will be attempting something unprecedented.

Dinoblue Heads Strong Mares' Chase Entry — But It's McManus Who Really Owns This Race

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The entries for the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival have been revealed, with 24 possibles declared — a stronger numerical entry than the previous two renewals combined. Defending champion Dinoblue heads the market at 7/4, with stablemate Spindleberry next at 7/2.

But look past the individual horses and a bigger pattern emerges. JP McManus hasn’t just had success in this race — he’s owned it.

Four From Five

Since the Mares’ Chase was introduced to the Festival card in 2021, McManus has won it four times from five attempts. Elimay (2022), Impervious (2023), Limerick Lace (2024), and Dinoblue (2025) all carried the famous green and gold hoops past the post first. The only year he didn’t win — 2021 — Elimay still finished second behind Colreevy.

Dinoblue and the McManus Monopoly: Why the Mares' Chase Is His Race to Lose

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 21:00:00 +0000

There are monopolies in racing, and then there’s JP McManus in the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase.

Since the race was introduced to the Cheltenham Festival in 2021, McManus has owned four of the five winners. That’s not a trend. That’s ownership of the race in all but name.

Impervious, Elimay, Limerick Lace, and Dinoblue — all carried the famous green and gold hoops past the post first. The only year McManus missed out was the inaugural running, when Colreevy won for the Flynns. Even then, Elimay finished second for him.

Ireland's Cheltenham Charge: The Numbers Behind the Green Tide

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Less than four weeks from the first race at Prestbury Park, the battle lines are being drawn. The Guardian’s Greg Wood fired the latest salvo this morning, warning British yards that Ireland’s battalions are “ready to roll” — and the numbers back him up completely.

Fewer Runners, More Winners

Over the last three Cheltenham Festivals (2023–2025), Irish-trained runners have been outnumbered roughly two-to-one. They’ve turned up with 414 runners across those three meetings compared to 920 from British yards. Yet their win tallies have been remarkably close: 33 Irish winners to 50 British.

Cheekpieces In The Mix For Galopin Des Champs As He Bids To Reclaim Gold Cup Crown

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Willie Mullins is considering fitting cheekpieces to Galopin Des Champs for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup next month — and if he does, the two-time champion would join a surprisingly short list of horses to tackle jump racing’s biggest prize with headgear on.

The news, confirmed by assistant trainer Patrick Mullins, comes after a disappointing third in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown on February 2, where Galopin Des Champs was beaten eight and a half lengths. It was his second consecutive third-place finish at the Dublin track, following a similar effort in the Savills Chase over Christmas.

Mullins' Grand National Empire: 15 Entries and a Three-Year Winning Streak

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:15:00 +0000

The Grand National entry list makes for familiar reading. Willie Mullins has 15 horses declared for the 2026 running at Aintree — and among them sit the winners of the last two renewals.

I Am Maximus, who powered home in 2024, is back for another crack. Nick Rockett, who stunned the masses at 33/1 last April, returns to defend his crown. Between them they’ve given Mullins back-to-back victories in the world’s most famous steeplechase. Add in his 2022 triumph with Noble Yeats and the Irish maestro has now claimed three of the last four Nationals.

Marine Nationale vs Majborough: The Cheltenham Rematch That Really Matters

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:15:00 +0000

The 19-length beating Majborough handed Marine Nationale at Leopardstown three weeks ago should have settled the Champion Chase argument. It hasn’t.

Barry Connell isn’t backing down. Neither is the formbook, which paints a very different picture when you filter for Prestbury Park.

The Cheltenham Factor

Marine Nationale is 2-for-2 at the Festival. Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2023. Champion Chase defence last March. Two Grade 1s, two wins, two different types of ground — soft for the Supreme, good to soft for the Champion Chase.