48 in Ryanair contention Vautour is the star name among a bumper 48 entries for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham on Thursday, March 17. Willie Mullins' horse is also entered in both the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. There are a record 22 Irish entries for the two mile, five furlong chasing championship, including 11 from the Mullins stable. The Co Carlow handler, Ireland's champion Jump trainer, has also put in Festival scorers Champagne Fever and Sir Des Champs, as well as Punchestown Grade One winner Valseur Lido and exciting mare Vroum Vroum Mag. Gigginstown House Stud, whose owner Michael O'Leary is chief executive officer of Ryanair, has eight entries in total headed by the highest-rated chaser in training Don Cossack (Gordon Elliott) and dual Grade One winner Road To Riches (Noel Meade). O'Leary has enjoyed two seconds and a third in the Ryanair Chase. The home challenge is led by two greys - Hennessy Gold Cup hero Smad Place (Alan King) and Al Ferof (Dan Skelton), who was third behind Cue Card and Vautour in the three-mile Grade One William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. Village Vic, a dual course and distance winner this season, is one of three entries for Philip Hobbs, while fellow Somerset handler Paul Nicholls has four contenders led by Vibrato Valtat and Sound Investment.
