Willie Mullins Stable Tour: older horses

Form profile

A 144-rated hurdler, he won two of his four starts in novice hurdles and finished fourth in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer says

He goes novice chasing, has been schooling very well and will start off soon. I had him in at Thurles this week, but the ground was too firm. I always thought he was going to be a stayer, but he has shown speed on the track and surprised us. He could be a good horse. Thomas Costello is looking forward to riding him for the season.

Form profile

A 162-rated hurdler, he won four of his five starts in novice hurdles last season including Grade 1 contests at the Dublin Racing Festival, the Cheltenham Festival and the Punchestown Festival. He made a winning chasing debut at Punchestown in November.

Trainer says

Where will he go at Christmas now? The 2m 1f Grade 1 novice chase at Leopardstown would have been the perfect race for him, but that’s been removed now. I don’t know if I want to go to Naas with him. I don’t know if I want to go to Limerick with him. Maybe he’ll have to go to England? He’s one of the top draws of the season and now there’s no race at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting for him.

Form profile

A 160-rated chaser, he has won six of his 11 starts over fences including three Grade 1s.

Trainer says

The plan is to start him back in the Hilly Way Chase and we’ll see what he does there before planning his next move.

Form profile

A 138-rated hurdler, he has won three of his four starts over hurdles including a valuable handicap hurdle at the Punchestown Festival.

Trainer says

He goes novice chasing. We’ve always held him in high regard, but it hasn’t quite happened on the track to the extent that we expected yet. He’s getting older now and will hopefully get better as he matures. You’d think he’d be a staying novice chaser, but he can pull hard, so he might be better off starting at shorter trips.

Form profile

A 150-rated hurdler, he has won four of his six starts over hurdles including Grade 1 novice hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival, the Grand National Festival at Aintree and at the Punchestown Festival.

Trainer says

He had a brilliant campaign last season, winning three Grade 1 novice hurdles, and he’ll go novice chasing this season. We’ll start him off in a beginners chase, but we might run out of time to get a run into him soon enough to allow us to run him in the Grade 1 novice chase at Christmas. I don’t usually like starting horses off over fences in Grade 1 races, I did it once in the Drinmore and it didn’t work, but it might be different over three miles, so I wouldn’t rule it out.

Form profile

A 157-rated chaser, she has won five of her 11 starts over fences including the Paddy's Rewards Club Chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting.

Trainer says

The path I am looking at is the Hilly Way Chase at Cork, followed by the Opera Hat Chase at Naas. We were looking at her as a Champion Chase mare this season, but we’ll keep all options open.

Form profile

A 175-rated chaser, he has won six of his seven completed starts over fences including four Grade 1 races.

Trainer says

He missed a bit of time. He’s back riding out and is doing everything right, but we might not get to see him until the Dublin Racing Festival. I’d say we’d have to go to the Dublin Chase. The Queen Mother Champion Chase is an obvious option, but I wouldn’t like to rule out the Ryanair Chase as we have a few options for the Champion Chase. His jumping let him down at Sandown, so I thought he might be better off that that little bit slower over a longer trip, but we’ll split them up as best we can if they all stay sound.

Form profile

A 175-rated chaser, he has won 10 of his 12 starts over fences including six Grade 1 contests. He missed all of last season due to injury,

Trainer says

He’s in good shape and so far this season we’ve had no issues with him. The plan is to run him in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork. It would obviously be a tight turnaround for him to run at Christmas from there, so we might not be able to do that with him. The Clarence House Chase or the Dublin Racing Festival would be his options instead.

Form profile

A 169-rated chaser, he has won four of his five starts over fences including the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase.

Trainer says

He ran a fantastic race in the John Durkan. He jumped well and learned an awful lot. He was being marked by Fastorslow the whole way and got a bit of a shoulder on the home turn. That can rattle a horse, to get a bump like that, but he jumped the last two fences adequately and went on again when challenged. I think he’ll learn more in that race that he learned in all his races as a novice chaser. We had thought about entering him for the King George, but we didn’t end up entering him. It will have to be discussed with connections, but could he be one to supplement into it now? Every option is open at this stage. He’s over 17-2hh, but a very athletic horse with it. That’s what I loved about him from day one. He has a very kind temperament too, which will stand to him on those really big days like Gold Cup day.

Form profile

A 150-rated chaser, injuries have restricted him to just four starts in the last four season, with him winning them all including a Grade 1 novice chase at Leopardstown in December 2021.

Trainer says

All is well with him at the minute, but it will always be a day-to-day thing with him. The plan is start him off in the Hilly Way Chase and hopefully drive on from there. He finds a new way to get injured every year, but hopefully we can keep him right.

Form profile

A 133-rated hurdler, she won three of her six starts over hurdles last season including a Grade 3 novice hurdle at Naas.

Trainer says

She’s going novice chasing and will start back soon. She’s a free goer and will probably start at two miles.

Form profile

A 166-rated chaser, he has won three of his five starts over fences including a Grade 1 novice chase at Limerick’s Christmas meeting and the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer says

He missed a little bit of time, but he’s back on the go now. He will go for the Grade 1 over two miles at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting and then go to the Dublin Racing Festival. The Clarence House would be an option, but just an option. The Champion Chase is his long-term target.

Form profile

A 177-rated chaser, he has won nine of his 14 starts over fences including eight Grade 1 contests, most notably the last two renewals of the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer says

He had an interrupted preparation for the John Durkan, as he got a thorn stuck in an awkward place in a joint and we just had to give him a few weeks off after we got it out. Missing those few weeks were crucial, but I wanted to get a run into him before Christmas. Considering all that, I thought he ran a cracker. He did all the donkey work in the race. Though, I was reading someone in the Racing Post this morning that thought Galopin Des Champs got the run of the race, but I definitely thought he was the one that made the pace and set it up for the those that were following him. I thought it was a hell of a run from him, and I took a lot of positivity from it. All being well he’ll go down the same route as last season, with the Savills Chase at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting being his next port of call.

Form profile

A 148-rated hurdler, he won four of his six starts over hurdles and finished a close second in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at the Punchestown Festival.

Trainer says

He is going over fences and will want a staying trip. We’re looking forward to getting him going.

Form profile

A 169-rated chaser, he has won four of his 10 starts over fences including the Grand National at Aintree in April.

Trainer says

We’ll look to get him on a similar enough path to last season, with the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse being his run before going back to the Aintree Grand National.

Form profile

A 160-rated chaser, he has won four of his six starts over fences including a Grade 1 novice chase at the Dublin Racing Festival, the Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree and the Barberstown Castle Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival.

Trainer says

He was ready to run in the John Durkan, but he got an infection that was so sore that he was fracture lame. I thought he was going to be out for the season when I saw him that lame. But that’s infections, they can get very sore, but aren’t as serious as the level of lameness would suggest. We got it washed out and it’s going to be fine, but he’ll end up missing three weeks which will rule him out of Christmas. He has options. He could be a Ryanair horse, or he could be a Gold Cup horse. We’ll let what he does on the track guide us.

Form profile

A 143-rated hurdler, he finished in the frame in the Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle at Naas and the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer says

He’s another fine horse that will go novice chasing. I’d be inclined to think of him as a stayer at this stage.

Form profile

A 163-rated hurdler, he has won six of his nine starts over hurdles including the Aintree Hurdle in April.

Trainer says

We decided not to go chasing with him last season, but that’s what he’ll do this season. We’d like to get him out soon if we can and I think he has a chance to be a top novice chaser this season. He seemed very suited by mid-range trips over hurdles, but we’ll work out what way to point him based on what he does on the track. If we feel he needs a mid-range trip, we might have to wait for Fairyhouse or Aintree with him which will be Cheltenham’s loss, but there we are, nothing stays the same.

Form profile

A high-class performer in bumpers, he won his only start over hurdles at Punchestown in November 2023, but had a setback and didn’t run again for the rest of the season.

Trainer says

I’m really looking forward to getting him started over fences. He jumps well. His only run over hurdles last season was fantastic and his work at home was even better than that. We were really looking forward to seeing how he’d progress from that maiden hurdle win, but he ended up missing the rest of the season. I think he’ll make up into a real good novice chaser.

Form profile

A 147-rated hurdler, she has won three of his four starts over hurdles including the Honeysuckle Mares’ Novice Hurdle at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival.

Trainer says

She had a setback the other day and is going to miss at least the first half of the season. She’ll stay hurdling for this season anyway as we wouldn’t send her over fences after missing so much of the season.

Form profile

A 145-rated hurdler, he won one of his five starts in novice hurdles last season and finished second to Ballyburn in the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer says

He’s back in good order and will go over fences. His run in the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival was extraordinary and if he can reproduce that he’ll be alright.

Form profile

A 139-rated hurdler, she won two of her five starts in juvenile hurdles after joining Mullins including Grade 1 contests at the Dublin Racing Festival and the Punchestown Festival.

Trainer says

She is hard on herself in her races, but she must be a very tough mare to do what she’s done considering how hard she pulls. Because she was so hard on herself in her races last season, I’m not going to run her until after Christmas this season. We’ll aim her at the Mares’ Hurdle and the hope is that she’ll relax that bit better to give herself the best chance of staying the longer trip.

Form profile

A 156-rated hurdler, she has won eight of her nine starts over hurdles including the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2023 and the Mares’ Hurdle at the same meeting this year.

Trainer says

I’m very happy with her. She’ll start off this weekend in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle and then the International Hurdle at Cheltenham might be a good option for her rather than going to Leopardstown at Christmas. We aren’t thinking about the Mares’ Hurdle for her. The plan for the last two years was to go to the Mares’ Hurdle last season and the Champion Hurdle this season. We’ll keep her apart from State Man until Cheltenham and let them clash there all being well with both. Letting them meet beforehand would take all the fun out of it!

Form profile

A 150-rated hurdler, he only ran twice for Mullins as a juvenile hurdler and won the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Trainer says

He’s going novice chasing. The first day he walked into the place, I said to JP that he looked a fully-fledged chaser already. He was such a big, mature horse. I can’t wait to see him over a fence. Four-year-olds don’t get quite the allowance that they used to, but that doesn’t worry me. His schooling over fences has been very good. I’d be open minded about what his best trip might prove to be.

Form profile

A 154-rated hurdler, he won four of his five starts in novice hurdles last season including the Grade 1 contests at the Grand National Festival at Aintree and the Punchestown Festival.

Trainer says

He runs in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle this weekend. I read that there are watering there. Nicky must have rang them before he ate his dinner! We wouldn’t want them putting down water for Mystical Power anyway. He’s fit and well and we’re delighted with the way the race has cut up the way it has. It’ll be a very informative race for everyone. To be honest, we had seriously thought about going novice chasing with him. We’ve schooled him a few times over fences and he’s a hell of a good jumper of them. So, if he doesn’t come up to the mark over hurdles this season, that will be an option for him next season. He might well turn out to be the best Galileo over fences!

Form profile

A 169-rated hurdler, he has won 12 of his 16 starts over hurdles including 10 Grade 1 races.

Trainer says

He looked very big to me three weeks ago and I wasn’t sure I’d have him ready for the Morgiana. I would say he went there a bit heavy. Considering that, I thought he ran great. I was delighted that he was able to get himself into the position that he did after the second last, challenging and hitting the front, and he just got a bit tired. That will blow away and cobwebs and put him right for Christmas. He’ll follow the same path as last season.

Form profile

A 147-rated hurdler, he won two of his five starts over hurdles last season including a Listed novice hurdle at Punchestown.

Trainer says

He’s going novice chasing and will start off once we get rain. He was disappointing at the backend of the season. On reflection, I think I might not have been hard enough on him at home, so we are making a point of working him harder this season.