Cheltenham Festival

CHELTENHAM, UK -- "It's the Willie Mullins five as they come towards the last." Commentator Ian Bartlett issued a line to strike dread into the hearts of rival trainers. Mullins had picked up where he left off, with Ballyburn (Ire) (Flemensfirth) leading home his stable-mates Jimmy de Seuil (Fr), Ile Atlantique (Fr), Mercurey (Fr) and Predators Gold (Fr) in the G1 Gallagher Novices' Hurdle. The only other finisher, and one of two British-trained runners, was Ben Pauling's Handstands (Ire), tailed off, while Jingko Blue (Fr) continued a week of woe...

CHELTENHAM, UK -- The biggest cheer all day at Cheltenham came from the Ascot crowd. Sir Francis Brooke, first Her Majesty's and now His Majesty's Representative at Ascot was engulfed by back-slappers and well-wishers as the horse he owns with Richard Pilkington, Chianti Classico (Ire) (Shantou {Ire}), ground his way through the extended three miles of the Ultima Handicap Chase to provide the sole strike for Britain on a day dominated - predictably - by Willie Mullins.  Chianti Classico's trainer Kim Bailey has had his share of Cheltenham glory but...

There are few more respected figures in French National Hunt racing than Nicolas de Lageneste.  It seems as though everything de Lageneste turns his hand to, be that breeding, training or simply owning racehorses, it is a success. Last year he completed the rare achievement of being crowned champion National Hunt owner and breeder in the same season. Nobody has ever done that before.  Fewer still would be capable of nurturing a horse like Il Est Francais (Fr) (Karaktar {Ire}). Not only did de Lageneste breed the superstar chaser, who...

Sometime in the next few days there will likely be footage of a convoy of vast wagons carrying Gordon Elliott's army of horses from Co Meath to Cheltenham. Ten minutes down the road from Elliott's stable, a single two-box will pull out of the drive at Rahinston to make that same journey. On board will be Colonel Mustard (Fr), an outsider for the Champion Hurdle but very much the star of Lorna Fowler's string of 15 jumpers.  Of all the Festival races, the Champion Hurdle has been hogging the headlines...

Peter Molony, racing manager to Kenny Alexander, says he cannot split the powerful owner's Jade De Grugy (Fr), Kargese (Fr) and previous Cheltenham Festival scorer Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) when it comes to picking the operation's best chance of a winner at Prestbury Park next week.  The Rathmore Stud boss also provided a passionate riposte to some of the criticism being levelled at the mares' races at the Cheltenham Festival by stating that their horse of a lifetime Honeysuckle (GB) may never have seen a racetrack had it not been for the...

Constitution Hill (GB) (Blue Bresil {Fr}) will not run at the Cheltenham Festival, trainer Nicky Henderson has announced. The unbeaten and defending Champion Hurdle hero worked poorly at Kempton Park last Tuesday, putting his participation at the showpiece meeting in major doubt. A scope showed mucus in his lungs and despite slightly more positive news in the following days, results of a blood test on Thursday proved to be another blow. However, Henderson stressed that another blood test on Monday would probably prove to be the "acid test", and on...

The G2 National Hunt Chase at next week's Cheltenham Festival will be run in honour of the late Maureen Mullins, who died last month at the age of 94.  The move, which was announced by Cheltenham Racecourse on Monday, was welcomed by her son Tony, who said, "Undoubtedly the correct race for a great stayer." The matriarch of a hugely successful Irish racing dynasty, Mullins's late husband Paddy saddled six Festival winners, including one of the greatest National Hunt mares of all time, Dawn Run (Ire), who remains the only...

Legendary jumps jockey Davy Russell says he hasn't thought about emulating Nina Carberry's achievements in flying the flag for racing by winning Ireland's version of Dancing With The Stars and revealed that riding in the Grand National or the Gold Cup does not compare to the nerves that come with competing on the show.  Russell, who bowed out from the saddle in December 2022 before briefly returning to race-riding for his long-time ally Gordon Elliott after Jack Kennedy broke his leg the following January, has heaped praise on his dancing...

The growing supremacy of the Willie Mullins stable in National Hunt racing begs the question: is it damaging anybody or anything? Dominance is the raison d'etre of elite sport. When Rafa Nadal was winning 14 French Open tennis titles it never entered his head that what he was doing might be harmful to the game. Manchester City won't be thinking that five Premier League title wins in six seasons is quite enough, thank you very much, and that to make it six in seven would be detrimental. If you're preaching...

Capital Stud boss Ger O'Neill has revealed that Authorized (Ire) will stand for a similar fee to dominant National Hunt stallion Walk In The Park (Ire) and outlined his hopes that the new recruit to the County Kilkenny operation will help raise the relatively new outfit's profile amongst Irish breeders.  O'Neill's perseverance paid off in securing the 20-year-old Derby winner and sire of Tiger Roll (Ire), one of the most famous jumps horses of the modern era, from the Jockey Club of Turkey for what he described as "a frightening"...

Colm Murphy has been dealt a hammer blow with the news that his Cheltenham Festival-winning mare Impervious will miss the first half of the season at least due to injury.  A gallant winner of the Grade 2 Mrs Paddy Power Mares´ Chase at Cheltenham last season, Impervious was a general 10-1 chance to win the 2024 Ryanair Chase.  However, the JP McManus-owned daughter of Shantou has been sent back to Martinstown Stud after injuring a joint in preparation of the new season and Murphy explained that he is holding out...

Hurricane Fly (Ire), Un De Sceaux (Fr), Vautour (Fr) and Faugheen (Ire). You name them, Harold Kirk has bought them. But did the leading bloodstock agent snap up the next jumps star to join Ireland's dominant champion National Hunt handler Willie Mullins? Ethical Diamond (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) was the only reason that Kirk travelled to the Tattersalls July Sale this week and he wasn't leaving without a horse he spoke of as being a future Melbourne Cup prospect.  That is the esteem the leading judge held Michael O'Meara's recent Limerick...