Willie Mullins: updates on some of my stable stars

Willie Mullins shares the inside track on a number of his stable stars, as well as number of hugely exciting prospects!

Chic Me

It is clearly very early in the season to be talking about juvenile hurdlers, but one who looks to be close to if not at the top of the pecking order is French recruit Chic Me, who won her only start to date at Auteuil.

Mullins said: “I think she’s quite good and I’m hoping she’s a Triumph Hurdle filly. She might start off at Fairyhouse at the Hatton’s Grace meeting.”

Fact To File

Fact To File beat Gaelic Warrior in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown last season, but he is set to be trained towards the Ryanair Chase he won so brilliantly in 2025 rather than the big one.

“John Durkan, Christmas, Dublin Racing Festival and the Ryanair looks the obvious thing for him,” said Mullins.

“One would wonder whether he stays the distance of the Gold Cup, he might this year with a bit of age. But he was so good around Cheltenham in the Ryanair Chase and it will take a fair bit to move him off that target.”

Gaelic Warrior

Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Gaelic Warrior is set to lead a Willie Mullins battalion in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase on Sunday week.

The eight-year-old was a brilliant winner of the blue riband at Prestbury Park in March and followed up with a 26-length defeat of stablemate Fact To File in the Punchestown Gold Cup.

He is set to return to County Kildare for the two-and-a-half-mile Grade One on Punchestown’s ‘Premiere Weekend’ and will be joined by several other Closutton representatives.

“Gaelic Warrior will start off in the John Durkan and then run at Christmas. He went to Kempton last year for the King George and I don’t know if I want to go back as the ground was much firmer than I wanted,” said Mullins.

“I’ll probably keep him to Leopardstown all being well. That’s my thought at this point in time, but we’ll see how things work out.

“He disappointed me in Kempton, but as the season went on I was very happy with him. He probably did surprise me with the ease with which he won in Cheltenham.”

Mullins feels it is Gaelic Warrior’s potent blend of speed and stamina that makes him something special, adding: “He’s obviously got lots of reserves of stamina and a little bit of speed.

“All the old guys will tell you a good Gold Cup winner would win a Champion Chase and he’s probably one of those horses.”

He's On Fire

Narciso Has is another horse expected to take high rank over fences this term, as is recent Naas winner Anzadam.

The lightly-raced He’s On Fire is also held in high esteem, with Mullins saying: “I love him and he’ll go down the Arkle route.”

Il Etait Temps

Mullins also has several big guns in the two-mile division over fences, headed by the reigning Champion Chase winner Il Etait Temps.

Having missed his planned comeback in last week’s Clonmel Oil Chase due to unsuitable ground, he will go into his defence of the Tingle Creek at Sandown without the aid of a prep run.

Mullins said: “It was disappointing we didn’t get a run in Clonmel. He will go straight to the Tingle Creek now, so we have to hope that we can get enough work into him and he won’t be too fresh going to Sandown.

“He loves the track over there, so I think we have go there.”

Kitzbuhel

Other Mullins candidates for the John Durkan include Fact To File, Final Demand, two Grand National winners in I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett, Grade One-winning novice Kaid d’Authie and Kitzbuhel.

Kitzbuhel, in Gaelic Warrior’s absence, could carry the team’s hopes in the King George having impressed in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over the course and distance last Christmas.

“I’m going to have so many horses thankfully for the John Durkan, he (Kitzbuhel) will start off there and it will put him right for Kempton,” the champion trainer continued.

“I would look at going back (to Kempton) for the King George for him, and then on to the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham and Punchestown,.

“He looks a horse who really was at home in Kempton last year, so I’m looking forward to getting him over there.”

Kopek Des Bordes

The potential challengers for Il Etait Temps’ crown include Kopek Des Bordes, who suffered a short-priced defeat to Irish Panther in a Grade Three at Naas last weekend.

“Kopek was probably a little disappointing, but when I looked at him before the race he looked a bit big in himself,” Mullins added.

“He would look to be Champion Chase material, I think. That’s the route he’ll go down so he will probably run at Christmas, unless we run somewhere in the meantime and skip Christmas and go to the Dublin Racing Festival.

“He will improve hugely for his run the other day. You think you have horses right at home and then you see them in the parade ring with their number cloth on and see how big they are. I think there’s a lot of improvement in him.”

Free Racing TV Country Gilet!

Limited stock remaining! Click here to get yours now!

Jimmy Du Seuil

With several stablemates that are in the Champion Hurdle reckoning going chasing instead, Lossiemouth is very much the number one contender in the two-mile hurdling division based at Closutton, while Jimmy Du Seuil is considered the trainer’s chief hope for the Stayers’ Hurdle.

The seven-year-old won what is now the BetMGM Cup at Cheltenham two seasons ago and after losing his way over fences last season, he reverted to the smaller obstacles to finish second to Bob Olinger in the Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown.

“Jimmy Du Seuil going down Stayers’ Hurdle route and will start off in Hatton’s Grace at Fairyhouse (November 29),” Mullins continued.

“I don’t know if his rating is good enough to go the whole way, but we’ll give him the chance.”

Lossiemouth

Superstar mare Lossiemouth is scheduled to again kick off her campaign in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown on Saturday week.

The grey provided Willie Mullins with his 14th victory in the Grade One highlight last season before going on to claim a fourth success at the Cheltenham Festival in the Champion Hurdle.

Having rounded off her season by claiming her 11th Grade One victory in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle, Lossiemouth will follow a familiar route back to Prestbury Park in March.

Lossiemouth will be looking to repeat her Champion Hurdle success in March.

“Morgiana, Christmas (at Leopardstown), Dublin Racing Festival would be the plan. I just want to keep her sound and in the form that she’s been in and then she can go to Cheltenham and Punchestown – that would be the dream anyway,” said Mullins.

“I’m very happy with her – she’s doing everything right.”

Love Me Tender

Ballyburn was second in last season’s Stayers’ Hurdle but will miss at least the first half of this campaign through injury, while Grade One-winning novice Jasmin De Vaux is out for the entire year.

Of the many exciting novice hurdlers Mullins has on his hands, the best seen so far appears to be Love Me Tender, who heads ante-post lists for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle after overcoming a few jumping errors to win easily at Naas last weekend.

“To me we haven’t had a novice hurdler like that for a while given how middling he jumped. Paul (Townend) rode him with kid gloves down the back and I was wondering if the race was getting away from him,” said Mullins.

“But the further he came up the straight the better he was going. His jumping will have to improve, but there is hope because his best jump was at the last when the pace was up, so when he runs in those better races, slower ground and the pace alone will help him get into a better rhythm.”

Majborough

Majborough could reappear in the Fortria Chase at Navan on Saturday, but Mullins admitted to having concerns about the ground, while the top dog in the crack team of novice chasers appears to be King Rasko Grey, who also holds a couple of weekend entries.

“He’s a horse I’m really looking forward to this season – he might be a proper chaser,” said Mullins.

“This time last year if you’d asked where is he going to go over fences I would have said the Arkle, but he ends up winning the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, which would suggest he’s a Brown Advisory horse this year.

“I have a few people saying he should go back to the Champion Hurdle, but I want to go over fences with him. He does very good work at home for us and I think he’s a fair sort.”

Featured offers

Get 50% back up to £50 with QuinnBet

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

New UK Customers Only. Bet £10+ on any sportsbook markets at odds of evens (2.00) or greater. Get 50% back of your first day’s losses as a Free Bet up to £50, valid for 7 days. 18+ GambleAware. 

Bet £10 get £30 in Free Bets with talkSPORT BET

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

New Customers. Opt in, deposit and bet £10+ on any horse racing markets within 7 days of sign up. Get 3 x £10 Free Bets for set horse racing markets. Bonuses expire in 7 days. T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.  18+ GambleAware 

Bet £25 get a £50 free bet with BetRino

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

New Players Only. Free bet - one-time stake of £50, min odds 1.5, stake not returned. 1X wager the winnings. Wager from real balance first. Wager calculated on bonus bets only. Max conversion: £200. Valid for 7 Days from receipt. Limited to 1 sport & 5 casino brand/s within the network. Withdrawal requests void all active/pending bonuses. Excluded Skrill and Neteller deposits. Full Terms apply. #AD *Can only claim one bonus from websites that are part of the ProgressPlay network. Monster Sports is also part of the Progress Play network. 18+ GambleAware 

Bet £10 get £40 in free bets with Kwiff

T&Cs Apply

Claim Now

New UK customers. Place a £10 real money bet at min. 2.0 odds within 5 days of deposit. Get 4 x £10 Free Bets: 1 Single, 2 Accas & 1 Bet Builder (min. 3 selections each). Excludes cashout, E/W, Multis, Ineligible Markets & Odds Boosts. Credited after bet settlement. 7-day expiry. T&Cs apply. 18+ GambleAware 

Racing TV encourages responsible gambling - to find out more click here to head to our dedicated website page.