The Cheltenham winner’s enclosure has staged many famous celebrations over the years. But there may be scenes like nothing witnessed before if Hewick can complete his remarkable rags-to-riches story by claiming the sport’s ultimate prize.
Seven years ago genial trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon, whose larger than life personality is matched by his formidable frame, made the best business decision of his life when leaving the nearby Goresbridge sales ring with an unraced two-year-old for a paltry €850. The rest, as they say, is history.
“The whole story from the start is brilliant, as he only came from down the road. You could travel the whole world to get a horse like him and I got him five minutes down the road,” said Hanlon.
“There are plenty of quality horses slip through the net at the sales and there’s plenty of quality horses go through Goresbridge.
“I know it’s only five minutes down the road, but I would never miss it – you never know where your next bargain is and I like bargains!”
Hewick is no oil painting to look at. Unlike his trainer he cuts a fairly diminutive figure when compared to the jet black reigning Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs for instance. But what Hewick can do is gallop hard and fast – and for a long way.
The nine-year-old failed to complete in each of his three starts in the amateur point-to-point sphere, a fairly inauspicious start to say the least, and while he won four times from 21 attempts over hurdles not even Hanlon himself could have anticipated his subsequent meteoric rise.
As if plundering one major handicap in the form of the 2022 bet365 Gold Cup was not enough, he went on to land the Galway Plate and the American Grand National at Far Hills, where the locals probably did not know what had hit them when ‘The Shark’ rolled into town. A bigger boat, indeed.
On their return to Ireland both horse and trainer popped into the local pub for a pint of Guinness – as you do – making headlines both good and bad, although it was all good fun. And he is clearly a hugely popular horse, in an area where Willie Mullins is king.
“Any race we’ve put to him, he’s always there and never let us down,” Hanlon added.
“To have such a consistent horse like him makes such a difference to the yard, there’s a buzz everywhere.
“I was in Bagenalstown there the other day and they were all wishing me well and they’ve got Willie over the road, but they are talking to me, so that’s great.”
After living the American dream Hewick was readied for his first tilt at Gold Cup glory last March. He was running a fine race, too, albeit probably booked for minor honours, when tipping up two fences from home.
Far from that being the final chapter in this extraordinary tale, Hanlon’s pride and joy has only enhanced his reputation since, bouncing back from his Prestbury Park spill with a Grade Two victory at Sandown before finishing an honourable fourth in the French Champion Hurdle.
Hewick’s defence of the Galway Plate during the summer was a little underwhelming, but yet again he roared back over the Christmas period, coming from the clouds to win a thrilling renewal of the King George VI Chase at Kempton, another big-race triumph that was thoroughly enjoyed by his trainer.
He said: “It was absolutely brilliant to win a King George. I knew before leaving here that there was going to be serious pace as there were six runners in it and five were front runners. I remember saying to Gavin (Sheehan) that going down the back he could be 10 lengths off them but not to stop riding him, keep going because your last two furlongs are going to be your best in the race.
“Frodon for the last five years has gone out at 100 miles per hour and I was delighted to see Paul Townend go out and take him on (aboard Allaho). When that was happening they were going too hard.
“We’ve made the running in the Gold Cup last year and in a Galway Plate and he couldn’t lie up with them – that is how hard they were going.”
With connections immediately deciding to give Hewick another break following his King George heroics, he will return to the Cotswolds fresh and seemingly in peak condition as he goes for gold once more.
Just as was the case at Kempton, Hanlon is hopeful that granted suitable conditions no horse will be coming home stronger than Hewick.
“I’ve never seen a Gold Cup yet where there isn’t plenty of pace and the extra two furlongs will be a big, big help for us,” he said.
“He’s not a big horse and he’s easy enough to get fit. After Kempton he had two or three weeks off and he’s back there working now.
“He ran well in the race last year and there is no reason why he won’t run well again in it this year.
“Hopefully this year, with a clear round of jumping, he won’t be too far away.”
If Hewick does come up the famous hill in front, bars across Cheltenham and beyond should ready themselves for a Shark attack so fierce even Jaws would be quaking in his boots.
If your name is Mullins, you must look forward to the Cheltenham Festival like an excited child counting down the sleeps before Christmas morning.
The presents under the tree come in the form of equine superstars, which will not be delivered by Santa Claus but by the most successful trainer in Festival history.
Patrick and Danny Mullins, son and nephew of the all-conquering Willie, were among those good enough to give up their time and speak to the travelling media at The Lord Bagenal in County Carlow, a place of legendary status due to it being the family’s local, where parties start early and finish late.
Patrick said: “The Lord Bagenal is where we’ve always come. I had my 21st here and I imagine we’ll all get married and buried here!
“At my 21st, one fellow fell asleep in the bath two stories up and it dripped down and flooded about three rooms, so he had to pay for that – other than that, it’s just been the usual shenanigans.
“We have our Christmas parties here and it used to be a case of myself and Paul Townend would go straight from here to work, but now we’re out by midnight! Then, I think as you get older, you start staying later again, you can definitely see the passage of time there.
“Willie enjoys bringing people here and drinking them under the table, he has a lot of practice at that!”
Unlike Patrick, Danny is teetotal, but that has not stopped him enjoying a night out at the Bagenal.
He said: “There’s plenty of stories – if the walls could talk! There’s been a few good nights and it’s a good spot for a Mullins party.
“Everyone from near and far, if they’re coming for a day out in Willie’s or Red Mills day or Thyestes day in Gowran, the stopping point is always the Bagenal after that.
“Willie has got plenty of miles on the clock, but he’s still got a good engine!”
Record-breaking amateur Patrick arrived casually dressed in hoodie and jeans, while his younger cousin was suited and booted and sporting a head of hair some of us could only dream of.
The pair’s very public but brief fallout at Limerick in late December appears to be all but forgotten, although Patrick did joke when trading places with Danny on the allocated interview sofa that we were now getting the ‘cut price version’.
Patrick is a major cog in the Mullins machine these days, not only in a riding capacity but also in an assistant trainer role.
He is fully aware that expectations on the team have never been higher after a clean sweep in the eight Grade Ones at the Dublin Racing Festival, and he believes there is every chance his father will get the six winners he needs to reach a remarkable century of Cheltenham Festival winners next month.
“It’s funny, as expectations for us are different to everyone else, which is great,” he said.
“If you get the Champion Chase and the Gold Cup, it’s probably a good result, but if you come home with any less than five winners, you’ll probably be disappointed.
“I’ll never forget the year we had no winner on the Tuesday and no winner on the Wednesday and Douvan got injured. We were sat there on the Wednesday night thinking ‘what’s going on, we’re doing nothing different’, and you’re always worried one year they’re going to blowout.
“With the quantity and quality of the team we bring over, I don’t think six winners would be a funny thing to say.
“To get to 100 Festival winners is not even a dream, it’s not something that ever was possible. Cheltenham is different to what it was when it was three days, so this is a new era, but even with that, it’s one of those things that’s so outlandish it doesn’t feel real.”
One of the features of the new era has been the birth of training partnerships, particularly in Britain, between fathers and sons.
However, when one journalist began raising the possibility of a joint licence being applied for at Closutton, the question had not even been completed when Mullins junior intervened.
He said: “Not a chance – not for diamonds! It works very well as it is, but working with families is a tricky thing.
“Myself and Willie have our own way of working together, but Willie likes calling the shots, so I don’t think that he’d be giving away any power.”
Danny Mullins could hardly be flying higher ahead of his return to the Cotswolds after an opening-day Grade One treble at the Dublin Racing Festival.
None of the trio were the yard’s first string and he will once again be feeding off stable jockey Paul Townend’s scraps at Prestbury Park, but it is a good position to be in nonetheless.
“Knowing where I come from and the team that we’re with, things are definitely going to change. Paul will have his pick again,” he said.
“The Dublin Racing Festival has been very good for me. I suppose the novices are tricky at that time of the season for Paul to get a true read on and come Cheltenham, he normally doesn’t get it wrong, but hopefully we’ll find a way of making him get it wrong at some point!
“The whole team is just so strong and Willie is building year on year. All owners and jockeys know what can happen, Willie does his best with everything, they go to war and the best one comes out on top.
“I won’t know until Paul’s had his pick and Willie sees who he wants to put on the rest of them. Anything can happen, all of Willie’s are going there to do their best and fingers crossed Paul might get it wrong somewhere and I might be the beneficiary of that.”
The Mullins cousins might have contrasting fashion sense, but what they do share is a fervent hunger for more Festival success.
It would be a brave man who bets against one or even both getting to walk into the sport’s most famous winner’s enclosure next week.
Fergal O’Brien has been one of the most upwardly mobile trainers in recent years yet despite racking up the winners, there is one particular itch that he would love to scratch.
O’Brien, who trains locally to Cheltenham, has still to taste success at the four-day Festival and admits the fact he has yet to do so is beginning to annoy him.
However, he is sending his two stable stars to the meeting this year and is happy to take on the Irish battalion with Crambo in the Stayers’ Hurdle and Dysart Enos in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
Speaking on a press visit to his yard O’Brien said: “I woke up this morning and thought I’ve 25 or 30 people coming, I could do without this on a work day two weeks before Cheltenham, but actually it’s what we do it for.
“We’re really excited. The Cheltenham Festival has been part of my life for the last 30 years and it’s the best week.”
O’Brien has finished second with the likes of Barney Dwan, Cap Soleil, Imperial Alcazar and Alaphilippe, with a couple of those in agonising photographs. But the near-misses have made him even more determined to stand in the hallowed enclosure as a winner.
“We went there two years ago with Imperial Alcazar and Alaphilippe and we’ve had exactly the same prep. We came away from both of those races having finished second, so disappointed they didn’t win, but not disappointed because we’ve had a great run-up to the race and if they get beaten they get beaten.
“All I know is if Crambo and Dysart Enos turn up in the form that they’ve been in since we’ve had them, whatever beats them is going to be a good horse and they deserve to win, so that’s where we are.
“We’ve had four Festival seconds, but I’d rather be finishing second than finishing nowhere. Hopefully we can put it right this year.
“It’s definitely a box that we have to tick and something that we need to do. Hopefully this year will be our year and if it’s not hopefully it will be next year – we’ll keep going.
“We’ve got great facilities, great staff and fantastic owners. I was with Nigel Twiston-Davies for 18 years and I’ve been in the game long enough to know that we’ve got all the ingredients here, we just need the right horse on the right day and hopefully it will be this year on Thursday, March 14!”
O’Brien has had a great ally since starting out on his own in Paddy Brennan, his old mucker from the Twiston-Davies days.
“It would be great for Paddy to ride our first Festival winner, but I think Crambo (who will be ridden by Jonathan Burke) is first and I don’t care which one of them wins!” he said.
“I’d be delighted for Paddy if we could get him a Festival winner, that would actually mean the world to us, to everyone here, he’s been such a big part of Ravenswell growing.
“He’s been a huge part of all of this here and hopefully whenever he decides to retire, I’m hoping he’ll still be a big part of Ravenswell Farm. He’s got a great eye for a horse, he’s an unbelievable race planner and is great with the other jockeys, so fingers crossed there’ll be a role there for him somewhere.”
O’Brien’s has not always been the sole name on the licence, for a short spell he joined forces with fellow trainer Graeme McPherson and the winners flowed. McPherson then went back on his own following an amicable split.
“We had a great time for a couple of years with Graeme and the numbers were there to show it – we had 141 winners last season, but spread over two sites it was very difficult, so it is much better,” said O’Brien.
“We’ve got a new barn here now and it’s fantastic. It works well, we’ve got some great staff and it’s just much easier having it all in the same place.
“When we came here we thought we might have 50 or 60 horses and tip away, but it’s gone well, it’s a great place to train. It’s a very simple routine and it works for us. Fingers crossed long may that last.”
As ever, much of the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival has surrounded the dominant position of Irish trainers compared to their British counterparts. But despite the huge hole left by the absence of Constitution Hill, all might not be as bad as it seems for the home team, who appear to have some pretty solid chances.
Here, we take a look at some of the best of them:
Grey Dawning (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, Wednesday/Turners Novices’ Chase, Thursday)
A useful novice hurdler last season, he won a Grade Two at Warwick but later fell in Grade One company at Aintree, so we never got to see how he compared to the best. As a result, he began this season a little under the radar but shaped nicely first time out when a close third to Stay Away Fay at Exeter. He then won easily at Haydock and should have beaten Ginny’s Destiny at Cheltenham but for an almighty blunder two out. His performance in easily beating Apple Away and Broadway Boy at Warwick marked him out as a real contender to take on Fact To File in the Brown Advisory, or Dan Skelton could still switch to the Turners to avoid that hot favourite.
Ginny’s Destiny (Turners Novices’ Chase, Thursday)
Quite incredibly, Stage Star’s win in the corresponding race last season was champion trainer Paul Nicholls’ first at the meeting for three years and Ginny’s Destiny could repeat the dose. He has followed a very similar route to the race and, just like Stage Star, the theme of his performances has been putting his rivals under pressure with accurate jumping. Whatever beats him will have to put in a near-perfect round of fencing to get him out of rhythm.
Crambo (Stayers’ Hurdle, Thursday)
Could this be the year that Fergal O’Brien finally breaks his Festival duck? He has come close on numerous occasions, albeit mostly in handicaps. But this season he is heading there with some top-class prospects. Crambo is already a Grade One winner, seeing off the veteran Paisley Park in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot, after which he was put away to ensure he arrives at his local track at the peak of his powers. In a wide-open year, Crambo has plenty going for him.
Dysart Enos (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, Thursday)
If Crambo is unable to provide O’Brien with a first winner at the Festival, then maybe it will be Dysart Enos. The mare sprang to prominence when she lowered the colours of Queens Gamble in a Market Rasen bumper, where the consensus was the favourite had under performed. The way Dysart Enos then bolted up at the Grand National meeting proved that was not the case. Cleverly campaigned this season to avoid picking up a penalty, she might just have a bit too much speed for the Irish mares, who have been winning in heavy ground all season.
Sir Gino (Triumph Hurdle, Friday)
You could not find a horse who looks less like a juvenile hurdler than this fellow – but he can really motor. While he may look more like a three-mile chaser than a sharp two-mile hurdler, he made a Royal Ascot winner in Burdett Road look rather pedestrian on Trials day, sprinting clear after the last. In most of the last few Triumph Hurdles, Willie Mullins has held the nap hand. This year, however, Sir Gino is set to be a red-hot favourite and there will be long faces at the Seven Barrows yard of Nicky Henderson if he is beaten.
Shishkin (Gold Cup, Friday)
Given the manner of Shishkin’s last two victories, at Aintree in April and Newbury last month, grinding out wins over three miles, it is hard to fathom how he had the speed to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and an Arkle in his youth. What happened in between those races also casts aspersions on his character, as he refused to race at Ascot and looked a little recalcitrant at the start of the King George. However, when he did hit top stride at Kempton, he showed the size of his engine remains intact when still in front two out – before unfortunately tripping up on landing. He rattled home when second in the Ryanair last year but did not look happy throughout and a year earlier he was pulled up early in the Queen Mother, so it is to be hoped there are no mental scars of Cheltenham.
J J Slevin is doing his best to keep his feet on the ground as he prepares to shoot for Cheltenham Gold Cup glory aboard Fastorslow.
The County Wexford-born rider already has a couple of Festival victories on his CV, breaking his duck aboard Champagne Classic in the 2017 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle before doubling his tally two years later after steering Band Of Outlaws to success in the Boodles.
He has enjoyed Grade One success on home soil both before and since those Cheltenham triumphs, as well as securing an Irish Grand National verdict, but could take his career to new heights if he can strike blue riband gold on his return to the Cotswolds.
It could all have been so different for Slevin, who earned himself a degree in journalism before the pulling power of riding horses proved all too much. One fancies he made the right call.
“It was a back-up really, I knew how hard riding horses was and how hard it was to make a living out of it,” said Slevin.
“History and English were my best subjects in school and I thought I’d go for journalism. I suppose to say I really loved it would be stretching it, but I got through it.”
In the past 12 months, Slevin appears to have come across his horse of a lifetime, with Fastorslow elevating himself from high-class handicapper to a major contender for the sport’s highest honours.
Even his rider admits to having been surprised by his rise through the ranks, saying: “He always felt like a nice horse, but the unfortunate thing is there’s loads of horses that feel like a nice horse but don’t get there.
“It would have been hard to envisage he’d get to where he’s got to, in all honesty.”
Fastorslow has twice been narrowly denied a Cheltenham Festival win, going down by just a short head to Commander Of Fleet in the 2022 Coral Cup and pushing subsequent Grand National hero Corach Rambler to a neck in last season’s Ultima Handicap Chase.
It was after that second effort at Prestbury Park that he really found another gear, as he inflicted a shock defeat upon the Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs in the Punchestown Gold Cup – and he proved that was no fluke by beating the same horse again on his comeback in the John Durkan at the same venue.
Galopin Des Champs comprehensively turned the tables when they clashed again in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, but Slevin is optimistic his mount can make more of a race of it at Cheltenham.
“It was a good run (at Leopardstown), hopefully we’ll have a different scenario in the Gold Cup and hopefully we can turn the tables on him. It won’t be easy, but we’ll see,” he said.
“I got upsides him and made him work and I was hoping he might not pick up, but he did. For a minute, I thought it might be on, but your man found another gear and he’s a very good horse, isn’t he?
“Galopin probably likes a bit softer ground and our lad is versatile enough. I’d say Leopardstown really suits Galopin as well, any track suits him, but he really likes Leopardstown.
“I think a different scenario of the race is probably going to be a big thing, I’d imagine it’ll unfold a good bit different to Leopardstown, with a bigger field and flowing along, with a few more going forward – and we can use his jumping and use his travelling.”
It is this perceived mixture of speed and stamina that Slevin views as key to Fastorslow’s chances of charging up the famous Cheltenham hill in front, a scenario he is keen to put to the back of his mind until the moment of truth arrives.
“Very few horses would give you a feel like him, he’s pure class, all quality and a real athlete,” he added.
“He’s loads of speed and Galopin is the same. Those Gold Cup horses, they could turn up against the top two milers and probably give them a race, that’s the sort of horse you need. They’re the best beasts over fences in these isles at the moment.
“It would be massive to win a Gold Cup, you don’t even dream about it really, it’s that sort of stuff.
“I don’t even let myself think about it at the moment, to be second-favourite for a Gold Cup. We just take it day by day.”
It is certainly not a one-horse show as far as Slevin is concerned, with Ryanair Chase favourite Banbridge, Triumph Hurdle hopeful Nurburgring and Stayers’ Hurdle outsider Home By The Lee also among his likely rides.
To be heading to the sport’s showpiece meeting with a handful of live chances is not something the jockey takes for granted.
He said: “You did dream growing up and then as you get older, you think it’s never going to happen, so I’m looking forward to it.
“It’s been a while since my last Cheltenham winner, they’re hard to come by and another one would definitely be nice.”
Winning the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup remains right at the top of Nicky Henderson’s priorities as he prepares to saddle Shishkin in the latest instalment of the Cheltenham Festival’s marquee event.
Henderson is no stranger to staring on the opening day of the Festival, winning day one’s feature Champion Hurdle a record nine times. But the Gold Cup has proved a tougher beast to tame for the Seven Barrows handler throughout his long and decorated career.
Nevertheless the Gold Cup has managed to find its way to Henderson’s Lambourn base twice in the race’s 100-year history, with the quest for a third success in the blue riband still paramount in his thoughts each passing season.
“As we’ve given up on the Grand National we may as well concentrate on the Gold Cup,” said Henderson.
“The Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup are the most important races as far as I’m concerned because it means you have the best horse and that’s what a race is about.
“After I’ve had a horse a week I have owners asking which race I’m going to run it in at Cheltenham.”
It was not until 2011 that Henderson broke his duck in the Gold Cup when the heir apparent of the staying division, Long Run, slayed the mighty Ditcheat stalwarts Kauto Star and Denman and the baton of power was handed over to the keeper of Seven Barrows and his then multiple Grade One-winning six-year-old.
Long Run would fail to defend his title 12 months later, but Henderson had another Gold Cup winner steadily brimming away, and two years after a first victory in the final-day showpiece, Bobs Worth would prove to be the ultimate model of a staying chaser as he stormed up the Cheltenham hill in the hands of Barry Geraghty.
Those two treasured champions will always hold a special place in Henderson’s affections and are the gold-standard to which future Gold Cup candidates will be measured – with this year’s contender meeting his guvnor’s approval ahead of his date with destiny.
Henderson said: “I think Shishkin compares very favourably to Long Run and Bobs Worth and if you are only judging them on home work, well Bobs Worth was just an amazing character because he showed you nothing and was as laid back as Constitution Hill – he was just the nicest horse.
“On the racecourse he would just gallop and gallop and gallop until he could gallop no more.
“Long Run was a very classy horse, a very talented horse. Bobs Worth though was a trojan, a proper horse. Just a trier and what he lacked in ability he made up for in just heart.”
Like his handler, Shishkin himself has plenty of Cheltenham T-shirts hanging in the wardrobe and from four Festival starts has two victories and a silver medal to his name.
However, the one-time shining star of the speedy two-mile divisions now sees himself staring in the stamina-sapping three-and-a-quarter-mile Gold Cup endurance test.
Henderson, though, is not surprised he has ended up plying his trade in the staying ranks and said: “I think lots of horses have done the same, if you take Desert Orchid for example, he looked a two-miler to start with and plenty of them have done it and gone up in trip.
“You could say why didn’t we realise it earlier, but I think we did and Altior was the same – he got pigeon-holed as a two-miler and was the best, so we left him there.”
Shishkin’s journey to leading British Gold Cup hope has been far from straightforward since the days of his youth when Supreme Novices’ Hurdles and Arkles were a mere formality.
Always one to keep his handler on his toes – as shown when refusing to race at Ascot in his disastrous seasonal return – it seems Henderson has had to utilise all his years of experience to hack into the mindset of the 10-year-old.
That includes the King and Queen’s primary jumps trainer calling on a member of the royal family for assistance, with Shishkin spending his summer with Zara Tindall, blowing away some cobwebs before the serious business on the Lambourn schooling grounds begins.
Henderson explained: “He can be a bit of a ‘boyo’ and we actually sent him away to Zara Tindall for the first month to get him going and get his mind on the job instead of doing some easy trotting and build-up work here, because that is when he can be a bit silly.
“Once you get a run under his belt he is probably in our hands, while before that we are probably in his. That’s what he was like at Ascot but after that he’s been as good as gold. He’s always been like that.”
There has been no repeat of his Ascot misdemeanours in both of Shishkin’s outing since as he enhanced his Gold Cup claims firstly when unseating from a winning position in the King George VI Chase and then getting a confidence-boosting success under his belt in the Denman Chase.
Few would argue he would be even shorter in the betting lists if not for unseating Nico de Boinville shortly after the second-last at Kempton and Henderson has full confidence he will last the distance in his toughest assignment to date.
“He’s come out of Newbury really really well,” added Henderson.
“I think we are confident he will stay and Nico was happy enough in the King George to say ‘we’re not going quick enough, I’m going on’ and that was against proven stayers, so he was pretty confident he was going to stay.
“I think it’s an open Gold Cup and open enough to be in it. He deserves to be in it. He would have been first or second in the King George and I honestly think he would have won and that was a hell of a performance for his first run of the year, even if he finished second that is one hell of a trial.”
If anybody had said in the year 2000 that approaching the 2024 Cheltenham Festival a single trainer would be on the verge of saddling 100 winners at the meeting, it would have been seen as preposterous.
Nicky Henderson already had 20 to his credit and he now sits on a very respectable 73, but back then Willie Mullins only had six – and four of those had come in the Champion Bumper.
It is quite remarkable, then, that this year Mullins is expected to bring up his century, needing six to hit the magic number.
Since the millennium, he has averaged close to four winners at each Festival, with his best being an incredible 10 in 2022. Last year’s six was seen simply as par for the course.
Should he repeat that number this time around, Mullins will be a long way towards setting a marker that will surely never be beaten.
Here, we take a look at 10 of the very best horses that appear on Mullins’ Cheltenham roll of honour:
Tourist Attraction (1995 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle)
The very first Cheltenham Festival winner for Mullins. At a time when he was still an amateur rider himself, he entrusted Mark Dwyer with the mount on the mare who went off a 25-1 outsider. In beating subsequent Arkle winner Ventana Canyon, Mullins proved he was capable of mixing it with the very best. She only ran once more herself but went on to produce Pete The Feat, a prolific winner for Charlie Longsdon who went on to race until he was 15.
Cousin Vinny (2008 Champion Bumper)
By 2008, Mullins was a major player at the Festival and had begun to farm the Champion Bumper having won it five times in all. However, there is no doubt if you were to ask him which was his most memorable success in the race, he would nominate Cousin Vinny, as it was a first Festival winner for his then 18-year-old son, Patrick, who has gone on to break all records as an amateur jockey.
Quevega (Mares’ Hurdle 2009-2014)
There was not much to the diminutive mare who arrived from France in 2007 but once Mullins worked out the key to her, she created her own piece of Cheltenham history. While some disagreed with the way she was campaigned, as from 2010 onwards she made her seasonal reappearance at Cheltenham, there could be no doubting the execution of the plan. The extra races have undoubtedly helped Mullins rack up his incredible numbers and many would have preferred to have seen Quevega try her luck in the Champion Hurdle or more likely the Stayers’ given she won the Punchestown equivalent four times. Either way, just running in the same race six times is a notable achievement, never mind winning it.
Hurricane Fly (Champion Hurdle 2011 and 2013)
Another who created his own piece of history. Hurricane Fly, who came with a tall reputation as a Listed winner on the Flat in France, became the first horse to win the Champion Hurdle, lose it and then regain the crown. Injury meant he missed the first two Cheltenham Festivals he was eligible for, and given he beat that year’s Supreme winner, Go Native, by 10 lengths at Leopardstown in the Christmas of his novice season, you would have to think that is one that got away, and the year after that he came back from injury to win at Punchestown. His defeat in the 2012 Champion came on the fastest ground he encountered and the winner of 24 of 32 hurdle races certainly loved the mud.
Vautour (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 2014, JLT Novices’ Chase 2015, Ryanair Chase 2016)
In terms of pure natural ability, Vautour has to be among the best Mullins has ever trained. The day he won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by six lengths he looked impregnable and he would have taken all the beating in the Champion itself. Sent straight over fences, he recovered from a blip at Leopardstown to bolt up by 16 lengths in what is now the Turners. A horse who certainly saved his best for Cheltenham, he won the Ryanair with a display that took the breath away, even if it met a muted reception due to owner Rich Ricci stating at a Cheltenham preview evening the horse would run in the Gold Cup.
Faugheen (Neptune Novices’ Hurdle 2014, Champion Hurdle 2015)
One of Mullins’ most popular trainees, on his day he looked nigh on unbeatable. A very easy winner of what is now the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle, the following season he endured a very un-Mullins-like preparation for the Champion Hurdle by running at Ascot and Kempton first. His only run in Ireland that season came after he had already won the Champion, when he went to Punchestown and was even more impressive. Sadly, injury curtailed him after that and he did not run between January 2016 and November 2017. Never quite the same, he did win a Grade One novice chase at Limerick and it was to his credit that his final start came at Cheltenham when third in the 2020 edition of the Marsh (Turners) Novices’ Chase.
Douvan (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 2015, Arkle 2016)
Oh what might have been. Super talented but also, ultimately, incredibly fragile. There were no signs of the heartache to come as he waltzed through his novice hurdle season unbeaten, or when he won all six of his novice chases the year after. That he had a subsequent Gold Cup winner in Sizing John seven lengths behind him in the Arkle spoke volumes. However, when 2-9 favourite for the Champion Chase the year after, he made mistakes and trailed in seventh, finishing lame. He had a year off but returned for the same race only to fall four out when leading the field a merry dance.
Al Boum Photo (Gold Cup 2019 and 2020)
Despite dominating the Festival by now, Mullins had yet to win the blue riband, coming close on several occasions. Step forward the unglamourous Al Boum Photo. No star over hurdles, he would have gone close in the 2018 RSA Novices’ Chase when falling two out, breaking Ruby Walsh’s leg in the process. The following season he ran once before the Gold Cup, winning a minor race at Tramore, and his 12-1 success at Cheltenham caught a few out. But he repeated the trick 12 months later, with Mullins sticking to the same routine. He finished a five-length third to Minella Indo when bidding to emulate Best Mate.
Allaho (Ryanair Chase 2021 and 2022)
If ever a race and a horse were a match made in heaven it was surely Allaho and the Ryanair Chase. Viewed as a stayer in his younger days, when he was third in the Albert Bartlett and RSA in his novice hurdle and chase seasons, it was not until the intermediate trip was settled upon that he was seen to his best. Eschewed by Paul Townend in favour of Min in 2021, Rachael Blackmore made no mistake and the punters sent them off favourite, suggesting Townend had made the wrong call pre-race and so it proved, with Allaho winning by 12 lengths. Townend did not make the same mistake again, with a 14-length success a year later. Unfortunately injury has ruled him out of the past two Festivals.
Galopin Des Champs (Martin Pipe 2021 and Gold Cup 2023)
Unfortunate not to be going for a fourth successive win at the meeting given he tipped up when miles clear as a novice in 2022, he must have been some certainty in the Martin Pipe the year before off 142. Mullins has got him right back to his best mid-season after two defeats and he looks to hold massive claims of emulating his former stablemate Al Boum Photo and you would not put it past him to go one better.
Mike Tyson will return to the ring this summer to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a heavyweight bout at AT&T Stadium which will be streamed exclusively on Netflix.
Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced the July 20 contest on Thursday, but there has been no clarification as to whether it will be an exhibition or a professional boxing match.
Former world heavyweight champion Tyson (50-6, 44KOs) ended his stellar career in 2005 with defeat to Kevin McBride, but did take on old rival Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition in 2020.
Paul fought on the undercard of Tyson’s draw with Jones Jr in Los Angeles and has gone on to forge a boxing career in recent years, notably losing to Tommy Fury – the brother of Tyson Fury – in Diriyah last year.
Boxing great Tyson, who will turn 58 in June, said: “I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the ring with Jake Paul.
“He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a “kid” can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT.
“It’s a full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him.”
Paul’s experience in boxing extends to 10 official bouts after he first stepped into the ring in 2018 to beat fellow YouTuber Deji Olatunji in a white-collar match at Manchester Arena.
“It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard. Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icons,” Paul (9-1, 6KOs) said.
“My sights are set on becoming a world champion and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time.
“This will be the fight of a lifetime.”
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee that could sideline the former NBA Rookie of the Year for the rest of the regular season.
Towns was originally ruled out for Thursday’s game at the Indiana Pacers due to left knee soreness.
The four-time All-Star hasn't put up his usual solid numbers lately, averaging 16.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in his last four games.
Coming into Thursday, Towns had missed just two games all season and was averaging 22.1 points and 8.4 rebounds in 60 contests.
Minnesota (43-19) is tied with Northwest Division foe Oklahoma City for the best record in the Western Conference.
The Timberwolves haven’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the West finals in 2004.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee that could sideline the former NBA Rookie of the Year for the rest of the regular season.
Towns was originally ruled out for Thursday’s game at the Indiana Pacers due to left knee soreness.
The four-time All-Star hasn't put up his usual solid numbers lately, averaging 16.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in his last four games.
Coming into Thursday, Towns had missed just two games all season and was averaging 22.1 points and 8.4 rebounds in 60 contests.
Minnesota (43-19) is tied with Northwest Division foe Oklahoma City for the best record in the Western Conference.
The Timberwolves haven’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the West finals in 2004.
Max Verstappen followed up his season-opening victory in Bahrain by posting the fastest time in first practice for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Despite the continued controversy surrounding Verstappen, Christian Horner and the Red Bull team, the Dutch driver saw off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso by 0.186 seconds in the opening running at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Sergio Perez finished third in the other Red Bull, with George Russell fourth. His Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished ninth.
Verstappen opened up his championship defence with an emphatic victory in Bahrain last weekend.
Following the win, Verstappen’s father, Jos, claimed Red Bull could “explode” if Horner, who was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” remains in his role.
It emerged here as practice got under way that Horner’s accuser has been suspended on full pay. Horner was exonerated last week and has always denied the claims.
However, Verstappen was able to put Red Bull’s off-track troubles to one side with an impressive display which will see him head into the weekend as the firm favourite to land yet another win.
Mercedes said an engine cooling problem contributed to their underwhelming display in Bahrain with Russell and Hamilton finishing fifth and seventh respectively.
Russell finished 0.280 sec behind Verstappen with Hamilton, 0.577 sec back.
The seven-time world champion’s future team Ferrari took fifth and sixth, with Charles Leclerc heading Carlos Sainz. Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren.
Horner is due to speak in a scheduled FIA press conference at 6:30 pm local time (3:30pm GMT) before the day’s concluding session begins at 8pm (5pm GMT).
London Broncos winger Lee Kershaw says the daunting prospect of squaring up to world champions Wigan this weekend pales compared with the challenges of self-sufficiency and spin-cycles.
The 24-year-old winger landed at the newly-promoted Super League club in February following an uncertain period as a free agent, after being released by relegated Wakefield at the end of last season.
It has proved a major culture shock for Kershaw, who still lived at home with his parents in Bradford, and had never previously visited the capital bar a fleeting visit to watch the Bantams in a play-off final.
“It’s been a big step, moving out and becoming self-sufficient, and I’m having to learn quickly,” Kershaw, who is currently living close to the Broncos’ training base at Rosslyn Park, told the PA news agency.
“I haven’t tried to wash my whites yet, and I haven’t got an ironing board, but I’m quite a good cook, and my partner will be down in a couple of weeks so she will help me sort myself out.
“I’d never been to London in my life, except to literally get on and off a coach at Wembley. We always used to go on holiday to Bridlington or Blackpool. So it’s been very different but I’m enjoying it.”
Kershaw’s problems finding a new club in the close season came as a surprise given some stand-out performances in a struggling Wakefield side, not least the swashbuckling, length-of-field tries that have become his trademark.
After leaving Belle Vue, Kershaw briefly revelled in his status as a free agent, working a few bar shifts and training with Leeds Rhinos before it slowly dawned on him that he could be left without a club for the start of the new campaign.
“I properly lost my head one night, when my agent and London were talking,” he added. “I’d been pretty cool up to that point but I knew games were coming and I just didn’t want to miss any of them.
“Ever since I started, I’ve always committed to just playing rugby. It’s all I wanted to be and it’s all I want to be at the moment. What I am is a rugby player.”
Arguably Kershaw’s highlight in 2023 was bursting onto a spilled pass by Bevan French to score a try that helped seal his side’s stunning golden-point win over Wigan in July, allowing them to briefly court hopes of top-flight survival.
London showed encouraging signs in last week’s close loss to Hull, and for all his hesitancy with domestic matters, Kershaw is convinced history can repeat itself when they come up against Matt Peet’s newly-crowned world champions on Saturday in Wimbledon.
“I can’t think of any game that I don’t go into thinking we can win,” added Kershaw. “I could be in any team, playing against anyone. I’d say it’s almost delusional.
“Wigan are one of the best teams in the world but I still feel the same way.
“I’ll watch the videos and listen to the coaches and every game I’ll think we’re going to go out and do this. But then you end up getting a few minutes in and realising how tough it’s going to be.”
Mikel Arteta believes “everything clicked” at Arsenal following their winter training camp in Dubai.
Since the Gunners’ week-long trip to the United Arab Emirates in January they have gone on a run of seven straight Premier League victories, scoring 31 goals in the process.
The camp came after Arsenal had suffered successive league defeats to West Ham and Fulham before being knocked out of the FA Cup by title rivals Liverpool.
The north Londoners now sit two points off the top of the Premier League table heading into their final 11 fixtures.
Speaking ahead of the clash with Brentford at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Arteta said: “It was necessary (the camp).
“We had a tough period before where we played so many games and had some defeats. It was necessary to help us keep improving and demanding of ourselves, especially with the weather and some of the things we had time to work on.
“Everything clicked, we won, we played good and that helps.
“It was really good and it came at the perfect time for us. We built the chemistry around the place. The amount of time we spent together – we enjoyed the time on the field and off the field. It was a really positive trip.”
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale will return to the starting XI in place of David Raya who is ineligible for the game against his parent club.
Arteta talked up the mentality of the out-of-favour England international, calling for him to take his opportunity at the weekend.
“He’s trained very well and he’s desperate to play, like all of the other boys, and it will be a great day for him on Saturday,” Arteta said.
“He has been brilliant, he’s really supportive and pushes in training. It’s a joy to have two top goalkeepers.
“One of the toughest things is dealing with players who don’t have the amount of time (on the pitch) which they deserve.
“We have an unbelievable group of players and we try to be straight with them and explain to them by giving them the support.
“When they get the opportunity at the end they try to contribute in the best possible way and that’s what Aaron will do.”
Kai Havertz is enjoying his best spell in an Arsenal shirt since his big-money summer move from Chelsea and Arteta lauded the versatile forward, who has scored in his last three matches.
“It says a lot about his character and how he’s dealt with those question marks,” Arteta said of the German. “He has a good attitude all the time when things don’t go well in certain phases of the game.
“He continues to work hard. We can see his mentality, his intelligence on the pitch and the personality he has. We’re very happy with him.
“His ability to occupy space and aggression in high press is very good. Those are attributes which are very good for us.”
Ireland have recalled “world-class” Hugo Keenan for Saturday’s clash with England but will be without lock James Ryan for the remainder of the Guinness Six Nations.
Fit-again full-back Keenan replaces Ciaran Frawley in the only change to Andy Farrell’s starting XV after overcoming the knee issue which caused him to miss the 31-7 round-three win over Wales.
Lock Ryan, who has been reduced to a peripheral role during the championship, suffered a “freak” bicep injury in training on Wednesday and will sit out the trip to Twickenham, in addition to next week’s finale against Scotland.
“I think it would be a boost for any side in world rugby,” head coach Farrell said of the return of Keenan.
“He’s a world-class full-back.
“It’s testament to him and it’s no shock to us that he’s been able to get himself back to this position to be involved this weekend as he’s been unbelievably diligent over the last few weeks to make that happen.”
Ulster second row Iain Henderson has recovered from a dislocated toe to take Ryan’s place on a bench which once again includes a six-two split of forwards and backs.
Ryan was strong contender to succeed Johnny Sexton as Ireland captain following the World Cup but the emergence of Leinster team-mate Joe McCarthy has limited him to just one start during this year’s tournament.
“He got injured yesterday in training, just a freak accident really, just a reaction, reaching out for a tackle that was non-contact and he’s injured his bicep,” Farrell said of Ryan.
“He won’t be available for the remainder of this Six Nations.”
Prop Finlay Bealham and the versatile Frawley join Henderson among the replacements, with Oli Jager, who has a knee problem, and centre Stuart McCloskey dropping out of the match-day 23.
Garry Ringrose is fit following a shoulder injury but must wait for his first international appearance since the World Cup due to the impressive form of midfield pair Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki.
Reigning champions Ireland, who are chasing successive Grand Slams on the back of bonus-point wins over France, Italy and Wales, could retain their title with a game to spare with victory in south-west London.
Steve Borthwick’s hosts were two minutes away from reaching the World Cup final in October but have attracted criticism for some underwhelming performances.
Englishman Farrell is braced for “one hell of a battle” against “unbelievably dangerous” opponents seeking to respond to Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland.
“I don’t get involved with the criticism at all,” he said of England.
“I look at the individuals the way that they’re playing, the coaching staff that they got, the plan that they’ve got, a fantastic side that is going to be preparing to give it everything they’ve got at the weekend.
“That makes them unbelievably dangerous, we just prepare for them to be at their best and if that’s the case it’s going to be one hell of a battle.
“If they’re at their best, you expect them to be as hard as anyone in world rugby to beat.”
Ireland team: H Keenan (Leinster); C Nash (Munster), R Henshaw (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Lowe (Leinster); J Crowley (Munster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); A Porter (Leinster), D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster), J McCarthy (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster), P O’Mahony (Munster, capt), J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster).
Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster), C Healy (Leinster), F Bealham (Connacht), I Henderson (Ulster), R Baird (Leinster), J Conan (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), C Frawley (Leinster).
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