Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival Winners, Tips and Best Bets

For those who don’t know him, Willie Mullins is one of the best horse trainers of all time. He has won just about every major prize in Ireland, UK, and France including some extremely iconic races – The Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, The King George, The Champion Hurdle in England, Ireland and France, the Supreme Novice hurdle and numerous Cheltenham bumpers. He is often the star trainer wherever he goes.

Mullins is the most successful trainer Cheltenham Festival has ever witnessed, sitting on 94 total winners and he’ll definitely be eyeing up the century in this year’s edition. The Irish trainer had six winners across the four-day meeting last year, falling fairly short of his record of ten winners set in 2022.

65 of his 94 festival winners have come in the last decade meaning his stable has been responsible for almost a quarter of the total Cheltenham Festival winners in that timeframe – a great insight to just how dominant he is here.

Let’s meet some of his best stable picks for this year’s festival.

Champion Hurdle – Tuesday 12th – State Man

With the recent news that Constitution Hill will not be defending his Champion Hurdle crown, it certainly feels like the other horses will need a miracle for Willie Mullins’ State Man not to come out victorious – it’s certainly his to lose.

The nine-time Grade 1 winner will now likely be considered by many punters as one of the ‘bankers’ for this year’s festival. Establishing himself a 169 overall racing rating, he is renowned as one of the best jumpers in Ireland and should sail home here.

Finishing 9 lengths behind Constitution Hill in last year’s edition will certainly feel a thing of the past and State Man’s odds on favourite status is deservedly earnt.

Mares’ Hurdle – Tuesday 12th – Lossiemouth

Another strong contention for a day one winner comes in the form of Lossiemouth, the odds-on favourite in this 2m4f runout.

Lossiemouth made a stunning return to racing in the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham last month following a 273-day break – he has certainly kept his class. This performance drew in lots of attention and brewed some calls for her to take on the electric Constitution Hill, one of the biggest compliments in the sport currently.

With six victories from seven career runs, a solid victory in last year’s Triumph Hurdle by 2 ¼ lengths and a great history running at this prestigious course and festival, Lossiemouth is the one to beat once again.

Mullins also has the second and third favourites competing in this one, Gala Marceau (runner-up to Lossiemouth in the Triumph Hurdle) and Ashroe Diamond – think of these as insurance selections in this one.

Champions Chase – Wednesday 13th – El Fabiolo

This seven-year-old has been established as the clear favourite in this Cheltenham clash. El Fabiolo is currently unbeaten so far this season over fences and has won his last seven outings, last tasting defeat at Aintree back in April 2022.

He picked up his fifth Grade One victory at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, smashing stablemate Dinoblue by 8 ½ lengths – who also looks great value in his contest in the Mares’ Chase. His jumping certainly wasn’t his finest on that day and will be the only worry in this contest if he hasn’t sharpened up.

The closest competition here is Jonbon. El Fabiolo emerged victorious against Jonbon in last year’s Arkle which is Jonbon’s only second career loss. He too showed great flaws in his jumping on that day which will certainly need improvement if he has any chance here. This one should be a brilliant race between the two market leaders.

Gold Cup – Friday 15th – Galopin Des Champs

And the final stand-out pick for Willie Mullins in this year’s Cheltenham Festival is Gold Cup champion Galopin Des Champs. Delivering one of the finest performances at last year’s festival, Galopin Des Champs has returned to form, crushing the Savills Chase with a victory by an outstanding 23 lengths and later claiming victory in the Irish Gold Cup.

This horse beats pretty much everything, including his stablemates, and there’s no hesitation as to why he’s the favourite once again in this year’s Gold Cup. He will face both new and old rivals in this clash, most of whom he has already beaten this season.

Bravemansgame will be hoping for revenge hereafter last year’s Gold Cup defeat by 7 lengths but will need to overturn his recent form big time if he is to do so. Since that defeat at Cheltenham, Bravemansgame has raced four times, finished second on three occasions and one-third place.

Clearly the best-staying chase of his generation, Galopin Des Champs will do what he always does to be the first horse since the wonderful Al Boum Photo to successfully defend his Gold Cup crown.

So there’s a quick insight into some of the strongest contenders to bring home this amazing, value-crammed 40/1 offer from PaddyPower but there are so many more strong horses of Mullins’ that can pick up a victory here.

Fastorslow, Dinoblue, Fact to File and Ballyburn are all exceptional runners and will have an equally strong chance to edge Mullins towards the famous 100 festival winners. Be sure to keep an eye out for all of those mentioned in this article, especially if you’re thinking of backing against them.