The Cheltenham Festival is around just a month away, and whilst punters are already starting to examine the form guides to help them make their all-important selections ahead of the Prestbury Park spectacle, the recent Dublin Racing Festival could be the best indication yet on who to back across the four-day outing in Gloucestershire.
While Al Boum Photo, who is the favourite in the gold cup odds to win the showpiece for a third successive time, was missing from the two-day meeting in Dublin, many of the other Cheltenham headliners were in attendance, and it was those from Willie Mullins’ renowned yard who swept up in the Irish capital.
Mullins was dominant at the Festival at Leopardstown, winning an impressive nine of the 15 races, and four of the six Grade 1 outings. As a result, the Irish trainer pocketed nearly a whopping €1 million in prize money.
Gaillard Du Mesnil, Chacun Pour Soi, Energumene and Kilcruit won four of the seven races on day one, whilst Appreciate It, Maze Runner, Monkfish, Kemboy and Grangee landed further victories on day two. The nine wins made for a huge 82,700/1 accumulator.
It will give those who regularly back Mullins’ contingent at Prestbury Park confidence, especially as many of the aforementioned winners are front-runners at the Cheltenham Festival.
Gaillard Du Mesnil’s five-length victory in the Grade 1 Novice Hurdle will make him a tempting selection in either the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (20/1) or the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle (10/3), whilst Chacun Pour Soi’s triumph in the Dublin Chase has reaffirmed his favourite status in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, where he is now considered the odds-on favourite at 10/11.
Energumene’s impressive victory in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase, which he won by an emphatic 10 lengths, has resulted in his stock rising in the Arkle at Cheltenham, while Kilcruit, whose win in the Grade 2 Future Stars at the Dublin Festival was just his second outing for Mullins, will be looking for a first Grade 1 win in the Champion Bumper, and at 9/1 he’s certainly worth splashing your up to £50 in free bets for Cheltenham on Betfair Exchange.
Appreciate It’s comfortable victory in day two’s Novice Hurdle has set him in good stead for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, where he is heavily fancied as the favourite. Meanwhile, Monkfish also asserted his name as the market leader for the three-mile Festival Novices’ Chase with an impressive triumph in the Flogas Novice Chase.
Monkfish was already being tipped by many to win the Festival Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham. However, his massive 11-length victory over Latest Exhibition will have many now considering him as cert for the Grade 1 race.
Kemboy’s victory in the Irish Gold Cup has also got chins wagging. Fellow contenders for the Cheltenham showpiece Melon, Delta Work and Minella Indo also lined up for starter’s orders with the latter as the favourite.
However, it was disappointing from the Henry de Bromhead horse, and Kemboy went on to win the race, beating The Storyteller by two lengths. His odds of winning the Gold Cup have since been slashed in half and punters are starting to question if he can pip his stablemate Al Boum Photo to nab the sought-after trophy.
Mullins has won the Leading Trainer award at the Cheltenham Festival in seven of the last 10 years, and he is the favourite to take home the accolade this year, and after his showing at the Dublin Racing Festival, it is going to take something special from the likes of Gordon Elliott, Nicky Henderson and de Bromhead if they are to stop him.
