Galopin Des Champs, Energumene and State Man: Assessing Willie Mullins’ top contenders in the Cheltenham feature races
The latest renewal of the Cheltenham Festival is all but here, with the four-day extravaganza due to get under way with the thrilling Champions Day card on March 14 before concluding the prestigious Gold Cup on March 17.
As has been the case for a number of years now, all eyes will be on Willie Mullins’ strong contingent of horses as the Irishman looks set to win his 10th career and fifth straight Leading Trainer title at the Festival — adding to his already mammoth list of 88 winners.
That said, read on as we take a look at Mullins’ top contenders in the five features at the Festival — the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and the aforementioned Gold Cup.
Galopin Des Champs – Gold Cup
Kicking things off with the Blue Riband, Galopin Des Champs is an incredibly short price for the Cheltenham Gold Cup at just 7/4. That puts him in the realms of greats like Best Mate and Kauto Star, which is a massive weight to carry, but there’s every chance he pulls it off to secure superstar status.
The only blemish on his record is that infamous fall at the last in the Turners Novices’ Chase here last year, but that’s well in the past as the seven-year-old has put together a string of three successive Grade 1s — including in the Irish Gold Cup. Some have questioned whether he will stay the extra two-and-a-half furlongs, but that shouldn’t be something to worry about either.
Energumene – Queen Mother Champion Chase
The horse that delivered Mullins his maiden Champion Chase success last year, Energumene is being backed to retain his crown in the latest renewal of the two-mile affair on the second day of the Festival this year.
However, after a poor round of jumping which included blundering the last when going around here for the Clarence House Chase in January and ultimately finishing behind Champion Chase rivals Editeur Du Gite and Edwardstone, Energumene is looking like a less than convincing favourite. He is still the best horse in the race though and Mullins will have been working hard to reverse the form.
Blue Lord – Ryanair Chase
A race that Mullins has won for the last three years in a row, starting with Min in 2020 before Allaho landed straight successes in the last two renewals, the betting is favouring the Closutton handler to handover the Festival Trophy to his old rival Nicky Henderson.
When Allaho was ruled out after suffering an abdominal bleed recently, the market fluctuated a fair bit and Blue Lord briefly held favouritism as he was the likeliest of Mullins’ runners to fill the void. However, the eight-year-old has since drifted to a distant 8/1 second favourite as Shishkin has made the step up in trip and won the Ascot Chase in style.
State Man – Champion Hurdle
If State Man is to win the Champion Hurdle on day one, it would undoubtedly be the upset of the entire Festival. That’s because the machine that is Constitution Hill is the heavy favourite at 2/7 and nobody would dare argue that the Henderson-trained horse is going to be beaten in the two-mile, half-a-furlong contest.
State Man does come here on good form however, winning six races on the trot — including the Irish Champion Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival last month, finishing almost five lengths clear of Honeysuckle. He will likely be Constitution Hill’s biggest challenger, but if he finishes within five or 10 lengths of him that’s probably a good result.
Klassical Dream – Stayers’ Hurdle
The Stayers’ Hurdle isn’t a race Mullins really seems to prime his horses for, with just two victories in the Championship race to date, and that’s evident again this year as Klassical Dream is his top contender at outside odds of 9/1 — which is good for sixth favourite.
The nine-year-old has appeared just once this season, finishing second by a neck to Stayers’ Hurdle second favourite Teahupoo in the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle in December and a fifth-place finish in this race last year doesn’t exactly fill you with much confidence.