Cheltenham 2023 Stable Tour - Willie Mullins Festival Runners

I feel he's still improving. He'll go on any ground and obviously Constitution Hill likes that quicker ground. We'll have to put up a show and he's the one who has every chance of doing that. There is more in him – he's a very deep horse. We haven't seen how high he can go yet.

It’s very hard for five-year-olds in their second season to compete with the older horses, so I'm hoping he'll be the finished article next season

It was great to finally get a Champion Chase. I think the other day he just needed that run in the Clarence House, and he needed to see the different style of fence, even though he had schooled over them at home. Sometimes a horse just needs to get out and see the thing on the track itself and I’m sure that experience will stand to him when it comes to jumping off in the Champion Chase.

I was a little surprised at Leopardstown. Danny [Mullins] was very brave on him. He asked him everywhere down the back and the horse was loving it. It was a terrific performance. I was very pleased with his piece of work beforehand – it was as good a piece of work as I've seen from him and the drier ground suited him too. Energumene is still the one from our stable to beat in the Champion Chase, but you need plenty of horses for those races and they're both entitled to take their chance.

He's good. I wouldn't say he's a definite runner by any means, but he's doing the right things. If I have to wait for Aintree or Punchestown, that's fine. I don't want to rush him.

He'll stay. We've tried to keep a lid on him and that is the way Paul has been riding him. He raced that way in the John Durkan and at Leopardstown, so we're very happy. It took him a while to get going at Leopardstown, but we don’t want to sharpen him up too much for a Gold Cup as he'll need his stamina. He needs to be relaxed and he'll have plenty of time to get going in a race like the Gold Cup.

We know Stattler will stay. He's coming along lovely and the Gold Cup can be a war of attrition, but he's won around the track and jumps well. He's probably a good each-way price if you want a run for your money. He'll be there or thereabouts.

I want to go to Punchestown with her if I can. I know it's the wrong way round and she prefers going left-handed, but I'd like to get a run into her. The Mares' Hurdle could be the hottest race of the festival this year! I was thinking Brandy Love had a great chance of winning it and next thing Epatante is coming back into it, then Honeysuckle. Wow, it's going to be some race.

She disappointed us in the Mares' Hurdle last year. She's way better than what she showed at the festival last year. We've had the Mares' Hurdle in mind for her all season but her run the other day at Naas was good and, you never know, if the Champion Hurdle cuts up she could have a crack at it.

The Allaho news could bring this chap into the Ryanair picture but I haven't discussed it with anyone yet. That is the first thought that would go through your head anyway.

He's good. He had a few easy days after Leopardstown. He'll be back out later this week. I'm happy with him. I was disappointed with Leopardstown but I'm happy with how he came out of the race.

If you go back to his first run last year, it was very, very good. His jumping just let him down afterwards. His jumping has let him down this season too, but we always thought he was a Grade 1 performer, but he just hadn't got things together. He got things together at Leopardstown last time. Danny [Mullins] got him out and got him on an even keel. He's a live one in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

He didn't jump as fluently as I hoped at Navan but he has a nice turn of foot and is possibly bound for the Supreme. I liked what I saw at Navan and he could be a very smart novice chaser next year. He'll definitely stay at two miles this season.

He won very nicely at Punchestown and he's a possibility for the Supreme.

He has the option of the Ballymore or the Supreme. He's shown us he has no problem staying and we might let Hunters Yarn go one way and Impaire Et Passe go another. He's looked a bit special. 

He was very impressive at Leopardstown. I was delighted to see him win a handicap like that. It was a great trial for maybe going for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle. He could go for the Supreme, but if I had to make a decision now the Ballymore is where I’d be going, but we’ll see what happens in the meantime.

He keeps improving this season and the Ballymore might look the right race for him

She's had a good prep and I would like nice ground for her. It can be difficult for novice mares as we have sent some really hot ones over the years and ended up winning it with 33-1 shots. They can go like the clappers in that race and some mares don't get home.

She's a big, strong mare who you will want to keep an eye out for jumping fences next year. 

She's learning to race like a jumping mare more than a Flat mare. She's settling better and jumping better. She is in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle and I'd say that is where she's going next.

She is still the one to beat in the juvenile division, given her run at the Dublin Racing Festival. She was just very unlucky there.

He's very good and I just felt it was only three weeks since his last run, he's only four and it was going to be a hard race if he ran in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown. He'll go to Cheltenham a bit fresher and he's a fair sort.

She's her own worst enemy as she pulls so hard, but she’s going to improve as well. The juvenile division is very hot this year and she's in there among them. 

I'd imagine he'll go to the Boodles. He could go for the Triumph Hurdle and he might be good enough.

He made a winning start for us at Navan and looks a nice type. 

She definitely put herself in the Cheltenham picture with the way she won at Leopardstown. I thought she was only three-parts ready, but it looked as though she had jumped in at where the second-last hurdle is positioned. And, she blew up coming out of the back straight. Next thing she filled her lungs and away she went. That was a huge performance.

I've always been keen on him. Go back to the second run of his life when he ran Jonbon to a neck at Aintree. I'm thinking no matter what happens he's right up there. It just depends on which horse has improved most over the winter and our fellow seems to have come on a huge amount. The Irish Arkle looked such a hot race beforehand, so deep, and for him to come out and produce a performance like that was huge.

I think the shorter trip in the Arkle Challenge Trophy will suit. I often wonder if the extra furlong at Leopardstown tells you that your horse wants two and a half miles the following year. It's a tougher test. He ran well there and the track at Cheltenham will suit him better, which will bring him right into it. There is more turning and jumping at Cheltenham and that will suit him.

He's nine now and is probably not as fast as he used to be, so he will step up in trip. It's nearly a given that he will run in the Turners. He's a big unit and will appreciate dig in the ground.

I don’t know what to do with him just yet. He's inexperienced so I need to see if he is better off going two and a half miles with less jumping, or three miles when there is more jumping but going slower. That's one that needs to be sorted out.

He wants a trip. He'll be going to the Brown Advisory or the National Hunt Chase.

He could be our best chance in the Brown Advisory but he is also our best chance in the National Hunt Chase, so we will have to see.

All is good with Allegorie De Vassy. Of course, you’d be concerned by her lack of experience as a chaser. She’s only had two starts over fences this season, but she has huge ability. Colreevy was also a novice when winning the Mares’ Chase in 2021, but she went there with one more run than Allegorie De Vassy has over fences. It’s probably a big thing to say, but I think Allegorie De Vassy potentially would have more ability than Colreevy, over this trip anyway.

He worked very well on Saturday. He came back, dried off, we put him into his box, and he had his lunch. Then after lunch, we found him to be a little bit distressed and we thought he was getting a colic, but it didn't look like a colic. It was something else. We brought him straight down to Fethard Equine Hospital and they found that he had got a bleed in his abdomen, which is hugely unusual. I don't think I've ever seen that in a horse before. He was comfortable over the weekend, but still critical. This morning, he moved off the critical list. His bloods and everything have come down to normal levels. I got a good word from the hospital this morning but, unfortunately, he won't make Cheltenham. I’d imagine that's him done for the season. Hopefully he’ll make a good recovery and be back for next season.

Monkfish did a piece of work on Saturday and it was the first time that I’ve thought that he seemed back to himself. He’s made huge progress and while Cheltenham will probably come too soon for him, he’s going the right way. The Punchestown Festival is our goal, and he might have a run before then. We might keep him over hurdles for this season.

*All quotes attributed to AtTheRaces*