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5 Mullins horses flying under the radar for the Cheltenham Festival

irishracing.com news

irishracing.com news

Fairyhouse 16 1 25 Kiss Will and Paul Townend win for trainer Willie Mullins  Fairyhouse 16 1 25 Kiss Will and Paul Townend win for trainer Willie Mullins
© Photo Healy Racing

Willie Mullins is blessed with an abundance of well-fancied horses in the ante-post Cheltenham Festival betting markets. The Closutton maestro will undoubtedly be bringing over a large raiding party for the four-day extravaganza and we’ve selected five horses that could run massive races at big prices should they take their chance.

Kiss Will (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) @ 16/1

Mullins trains five of the first seven in the market for the Supreme and of those, Kiss Will is the biggest price. Available at odds of 16/1, he made a very good impression when pulling nicely clear to win a maiden at Fairyhouse on his stable debut.

There’s lots to like about his pedigree, as he’s related to My Will and Unioniste, who were very useful performers for Paul Nicholls. Likely to want further in time, his Fairyhouse success indicates that two miles will be no problem for the time being.

Mistergif (Arkle) @ 33/1

Many people fancied Mistergif for the Supreme last year but he was pretty disappointing. However, he made a promising start to his chasing career at Fairyhouse earlier this month and managed to get the better of three stablemates including the useful Tullyhill.

While perhaps not the most obvious choice for the Arkle, he arrived with a big reputation and it would be good to see him tackling a graded race before Cheltenham. It's certainly too early to write him off and he should blossom over fences.

Gala Marceau (Mares’ Hurdle) @ 50/1

This mare is one of the few horses to have beaten Lossiemouth, getting the better of her illustrious stablemate in the 2023 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival. She went on to finish runner-up behind her in the Triumph and clearly possesses lots of ability.

Second-season juveniles often struggle, so it’s easy to forgive some below-par efforts last term. Last seen when finishing second to Lossiemouth in the Grade 1 Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown, Gala Marceau can build on that performance and become a better mare this season.

Quai De Bourbon (Brown Advisory Novice’ Chase) @ 25/1

This gelding was laid out for the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham last season and whilst he didn’t manage to win that, he wasn’t beaten far in third. There should be more to come over fences this term and the idea of going up to three miles is interesting.

There are no guarantees that he’ll line up in this race and the novice handicap could be an option for him, but he’d certainly be an intriguing proposition if connections decide to go for the big one.

C’Est Ta Chance (Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle) @ 33/1

C’Est Ta Chance’s trainer gave him a pretty favourable mention in his Racing Post stable tour in the autumn and the son of Elm Park won a Clonmel maiden hurdle very comfortably on his first start of the season. He was outsprinted over two miles at Navan last time when the drop in trip didn’t suit.

It would certainly be interesting if connections decide to have a go at the three-mile novice hurdle at Cheltenham, despite the fact that he has a speedier pedigree. We haven’t seen the best of him yet and a longer trip could bring that out.

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