Can Kopeck De Mee justify the hype machine?

The name of Kopeck De Mee has suddenly arrived on the lips of Cheltenham Festival enthusiasts after he shot to prominence in the betting markets for a host of handicaps at the meeting.

Despite the fact he has never run in Britain or Ireland, he is trained by Willie Mullins and owned by JP McManus and he could turn out to be one of the best-backed horses across four days in the Cotswolds.

The five-year-old surged to the head of the market for the Coral Cup, the County Hurdle and the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle since the entries for those races were released.

Will he justify the hype around him when the Festival rolls around?

What we know about Kopeck De Mee

Though yet to be sighted in the UK or Ireland, Kopeck De Mee has five hurdle outings to his name in France for trainer Joel Boisnard.

He won on the Flat at Senonnes-Pouance in June 2023 and had his first hurdles success in March 2024 at the same venue.

When last spotted he was a convincing winner of a Listed contest at Auteuil last May, form advertised by the third home winning a Listed race and finishing runner-up in a Grade 1 hurdle at Auteuil afterwards.

After that win last May, Kopeck De Mee was bought by JP McManus, the owner with more Cheltenham Festival wins than anyone else, and sent to Ireland to be trained by Willie Mullins, Cheltenham's record-breaking trainer.

Mullins' track record in Festival handicaps

While we tend to associate Mullins with the graded prizes at the Cheltenham Festival, he's no stranger to winning a handicap.

In recent times, Saint Roi (2020), State Man (2022) and Absurde (2024) have won the County Hurdle, while Galopin Des Champs also won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle in 2021.

In a key difference-maker, all of those winners had run at least twice for Mullins before turning up at the biggest week in the calendar, but Kopeck De Mee has gained his experience in his native France, a fact that may well be playing into his hands in terms of the rating he will allotted.

Target to be decided

Kopeck De Mee finds himself prominent in the markets for three Festival races, the Coral Cup, the County Hurdle and the Martin Pipe.

Time will tell where he turns up, but punters can of course be assured of their money now, with full non-runner no bet concessions in place.

What we can say is that he's likely to be running off a mark circa 138 wherever he goes, as that is the proven formula the BHA will use to assess based on his French rating.

Irish raiders typically might get a few pounds extra from the UK handicapper, but Kopeck De Mee looks destined to get in lightly.

Mullins and McManus will likely make a firm decision on his target once the weights are released.

What is sure is that Kopeck De Mee couldn't be coming from a better source if he's going to make his mark.

He represents the Festival's all-time leading trainer and owner and it would come as a shock to nobody should he put another win on their respective CVs.

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