Willie Mullins Cheltenham Stable Tour: What we learned

Mullins leaning towards Ballymore with Gaelic Warrior

Gaelic Warrior was certainly backed as if a Grade 1 horse in a handicap at the Dublin Racing Festival on Sunday - he was sent off the 10/11 favourite for the Liffey Handicap Hurdle - and he justified that support with an emphatic three-and-three-quarter-length victory, establishing himself as a leading contender for top-level honours in the at the Cheltenham Festival.

That performance - regarded by Timeform as the best by a novice hurdler this season - resulted in Gaelic Warrior being cut for both the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, and Mullins on Monday revealed that he was leaning towards the latter target, for which he is a top price of 5/1.

Mullins said: “Gaelic Warrior was very impressive to win a handicap like that and I thought it was a great trial for maybe going for the Ballymore – that would look like the sort of race we might go for at the moment.

“He could go for the Supreme, but if I was to make a decision today the Ballymore is where I would be going. We'll see what happens in the meantime.

“To me the obvious thing to do was go for a handicap, rather than taking on Facile Vega and Il Etait Temps. It was either Leopardstown or the Betfair Hurdle and I felt we had a better chance going to Cheltenham if we ran him at the Dublin Racing Festival, rather than going to Newbury.

“Off his rating it would have been a sin to have run him in a novice race. I'm thinking Ballymore, unless he gets away with murder and gets into the County Hurdle, but I doubt it!

"He looked more of a Ballymore horse than a Supreme, but we'll see what way the opposition lines up."

Supreme still the plan for Facile Vega

Gaelic Warrior - who was one of five winners for Mullins on the Leopardstown card on Sunday - struck half an hour after stablemate Il Etait Temps had landed the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle.

That was a very smart performance from Il Etait Temps - who earned a Timeform rating only 1 lb inferior to Gaelic Warrior - but from an ante-post perspective the race was arguably more notable for the defeat of the previously unbeaten Facile Vega, the Champion Bumper winner who went into the Dublin Racing Festival as the odds-on favourite for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle.

Facile Vega had readily beaten Il Etait Temps by four lengths in the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle over course and distance in December, but was last of five finishers this time, with Mullins attributing the disappointing display to an overly-strong gallop.

Facile Vega unsurprisingly drifted in the betting for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle - he's now a 5/1 shot - but the Festival opener remains the most likely target.

Mullins said: "I had resigned when I saw what was happening going past the winning post first time round. I said 'unless he's an absolute aeroplane, they can't keep that up'. It was headless what went on and he couldn't last that.

“I was disappointed [with] what happened, not that he was beaten as every horse gets beaten some day, but it just means that Paul is going to have to ride him like a racehorse rather than a machine."

When asked whether it was still all systems go for the Supreme, Mullins replied: "Yes, I think so. There'll be plenty of pace in the Supreme Novices' and I haven't contemplated changing [plans] yet.

“I think at the moment we're all set to go the way we planned, if the horse recovers from his race yesterday. That was a very, very hard for him and it will take a fair bit of recovering from. We'll need all the time we have.”

On Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle winner Impaire et Passe, Mullins added: “He looks a bit special too. He could do two [miles], but you'd probably be looking at going a little further, you'd probably be looking at two and a half.

"I certainly was last week, but now with Gaelic Warrior stepping up again it's nice to have the choice. He certainly could do two but I had looked at two and a half for him. I was leaning that way.

“We haven't sat down yet and gone through what happened over the weekend. I couldn't say at this point. I'd say with his temperament he could do either race."

Mullins bullish about El Fabiolo's Sporting Life Arkle claims

There was uncertainty around the pecking order among Mullins' novice chasers heading into the Irish Arkle, but there was a conclusive outcome with El Fabiolo putting up the best performance by a novice chaser this season - by Timeform's reckoning - when scoring by ten lengths.

That puts El Fabiolo on a collision course with old rival Jonbon - who has also won both starts over fences - in the Sporting Life Arkle.

Jonbon edged the verdict by a neck when the pair clashed in the Grade 1 Top Novices' Hurdle at Aintree last season, but Mullins believes there’s grounds for thinking El Fabiolo can reverse the form.

He said: “El Fabiolo did everything right and his run against Jonbon last year puts him right in the picture. It was only his second run for us and to run Jonbon to a photo-finish was a huge achievement. Jonbon was in his own backyard whereas we had to travel over to England, so he goes there with a huge chance.”

Appreciate It, the 2021 Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner, was sent off the 11/8 favourite but had no answer in third. A step up in trip now beckons.

Mullins said: “Appreciate It was very disappointing and we've got to figure him out. I just thought he ran very flat and maybe he just mightn't have recovered from his big effort before [at Naas]. Appreciate It could step up in trip. We thought that all the time and we were amazed he could do what he did over two miles in the beginning, but maybe now it's looking like he needs to go up in trip. It [Turners] is likely on Saturday's performance, but we'll just have to see how he comes out of the race.”

The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase could be on the agenda for Sir Gerhard, last season's Ballymore winner who made a winning start over fences at Gowran Park.

Mullins said: “His hurdle form is good enough to go anywhere, but at the moment I'd be thinking longer trips, just going that bit steadier [might help. Over a longer trip there's more jumps and more opportunity to make a mistake, but I just think for him, with his lack of experience, we'll possibly take a chance in the Brown Advisory. That's the way I'm thinking at the moment anyway, but nothing is set in stone.”

Fun Fun Fun could have the quality for Champion Bumper

El Fabiolo's owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede are responsible for the Champion Bumper favourite in It's For Me, though they could have a second string to their bow in the shape of Fun Fun Fun, the impressive winner of the concluding mares' bumper on Sunday.

The Nickel Coin at Aintree - which is restricted to mares - would be an option if connections elect to rely on It's For Me at Cheltenham, but Fun Fun Fun would be worth her place in the Champion Bumper.

Taking into account her 7 lb sex allowance, only Saturday's Future Stars Bumper winner A Dream To Share would be coming out in advance of Fun Fun Fun on Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings.

Mullins said: "She would look automatic to go there [to Cheltenham], but we'll see, there's the mares' race in Aintree and Punchestown.

"I would have thought she'd have been an automatic to go there [to Cheltenham] in an ordinary year.

"I know the prep she had - I didn't think she'd be fit enough to do it. Patrick was scrubbing her along and she blew up, but she just got her second wind and took off again as if she just jumped in. The depth of that bumper and Patrick went by as if he just jumped in. That's a huge performance."

Allaho in fast work ahead of potential Ryanair Chase hat-trick bid

Allaho, the hugely impressive winner of the Ryanair Chase for the last two seasons and Timeform's highest-rated chaser in training, has yet to run this campaign after meeting with a couple of niggles but is pleasing Mullins ahead of a potential Ryanair Chase hat-trick bid.

Mullins said: “I'm very happy with Allaho. He's doing some fast work.”

Mullins also had an update on Monkfish, who has been off the track since losing his unbeaten record over fences at the 2021 Punchestown Festival, and Klassical Dream, who met with a setback prior to an intended run over Christmas.

He added: “Monkfish is just a little bit behind him [Allaho], but at the moment they're both going well, and Klassical Dream is another one that comes back into the picture.

“It's going to be touch and go whether they make it, but certainly I'm much happier with Allaho than any of the others.

“I think he's a specialist Ryanair chaser. A lot of people want to see him in a Gold Cup, but I'd be more worried about him going three and a quarter miles than I would about Galopin Des Champs.

“Allaho is so spectacular over the Ryanair trip. I think he could go back to two miles if you wanted to, but with his style of racing it might break his heart if he got beaten and we don't want to do that.”

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