Sporting Life
David Ord talks to Henry de Bromhead

Cheltenham Festival preview: David Ord talks to Danny Mullins

By David Ord
Horse Racing
Wed February 18, 2026 · 5h ago

So, what would you ride in the Gold Cup?

Pose a question, any question, to Danny Mullins and you’re not going to get a flippant, throwaway line.

He thinks and ten seconds or so later, has his response.

"It's a difficult decision,” he smiles. "Would you give Ben Pauling a ring and see what he’s doing with The Jukebox Man as well? They were locked together, Gaelic Warrior and himself at Kempton, where you’d imagine on that run Fact To File wasn’t going to be in the mix.

“But what won the Irish Gold Cup for Fact To File, for me, was how he settled. It really cost him the chance of winning the King George that he just settled too well around a speed track.

"Galopin Des Champ probably ran so well the first day that he had a harder race and he wasn’t involved as much at the DRF in the business end so maybe that run mightn't take as much out of him.

https://ads.skybet.com/redirect.aspx?pid=17678472&lpid=16&bid=1487

"His first run back he was competitive for a long way and maybe it blunted him, and did he bounce a little at the DRF?

“Looking at him last year, his best performance was his third run of the year and this year his third run will be the Gold Cup. He’d be fairly rock-solid around Cheltenham. The head probably says Fact To File, the heart would say Galopin Des Champs, but Gaelic Warrior if he can settle has a big chance and the Jukebox Man is bang there as well.

“It’s a proper Gold Cup and a lot of people I suppose with every right to think they can win it, and that’s great for racing."

Speaking to Danny ahead of Cheltenham is always a challenge. He’s a delight to talk to but his book of rides won’t take shape until Paul Townend takes first pick.

"Nothing has changed!" he beams.

And Townend rarely gets it wrong. But Mullins was aboard Jimmy De Seuil in last season’s Coral Cup and knows the keys to many a Closutton rocket will be heading his way again in three weeks' time.

Crucially, too, he has had a feel of some of the big players on the racecourse itself.

Take red-hot JCB Triumph Hurdle favourite Narciso Has who the jockey partnered to victory at Leopardstown over Christmas.

"He gave me a great feel that day and the way he hit the line so strong was fantastic. You saw that again at the DRF," he said.

“But for me Narciso Has’ temperament is his main strength. He’s so chilled out, jumps well, and is what everybody would dream of going into a Triumph. He stays quite well; he’ll relax and jump. There’s not been a chink found in his armour yet."

Narciso Has winning under Danny at Christmas

And there's Poniros. A potential Unibet Champion Hurdle mount if Lossiemouth runs and if Paul Townend rides.

Ah, those ifs again – but Mullins was encouraged by the feel he got from the five-year-old in the Timeless Sash Windows Irish Champion Hurdle.

"He’ll be an interesting one in the Champion Hurdle. I suppose he had limited experience and it was his first run of the year going into the DRF and maybe that inexperience told, he just wasn’t able to catch onto their tails going down the back straight but what he did in the last furlong was quite encouraging. He came home well.

"Being a five-year-old he’s probably open to the most improvement. He’s still going to be going into a Champion Hurdle at a double-figure price but in the year that it is, who knows what can happen?

"I think he’ll run a race with a lot of credit at Cheltenham and you never know what can happen. Five-year-olds don’t have the best record but it can be done, they don’t do it every year, but it’s a possibility and he's a horse who started 100/1 in the Triumph last year. He’s never one who flashes really at home, so he’ll be going there and the form at Leopardstown is quite good."

Brighterdaysahead and Jack Kennedy win the Irish Champion Hurdle

And what of the rest?

“Lossiemouth and Brighterdaysahead, they flipped the form from Christmas at the Dublin Racing Festival but then you look at Brighterdaysahead’s Cheltenham record and Lossiemouth’s Cheltenham record... I know which way I’d be swayed.

“Constitution Hill isn’t out of the mix, there’s no better man than Nicky Henderson to bring one back. While I’m hoping a Willie Mullins horse wins, I’d take great satisfaction from seeing Constitution Hill run a big race as well."

Having ridden her, how does Mullins feel Lossiemouth would fare in a Champion Hurdle?

“I think she’d run well,” he says. “It’s an open Champion Hurdle and the mares’ race is going to be a competitive race as well. It’s not as easy as saying we’ll just turn up there and win that instead.

“She’d be looking to confirm form with Wodhooh there but they locked horns down the straight at Aintree last year as well.

"If it were up to me... I'd do exactly what the genius has done before and say nothing before deciding in the last minute! It's an interesting race and a lot will depend on how they are on the day. But everyone seems to have Lossiemouth down as going for the Mares' Hurdle now but with that Cheltenham record I think she has a chance of turning form around with Brighterdaysahead and you put that into the reckoning and the Champion Hurdle still becomes a 50-50 coin-toss."

There's Spindleberry too. She lost her unbeaten record over fences when pulling up in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup but is a mare the jockey knows well having won the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse aboard her last season and a Listed mares’ chase at Doncaster this time around.

Is she a player in the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase?

“You’d imagine so. Doncaster was very impressive and she started back nicely at Clonmel as well. The Irish Gold Cup run was probably too bad to be true," he says.

“She just didn’t seem to find any rhythm and if she ended up being beat a long way into fifth or sixth you could say she wasn’t good enough but I think you can draw a line through that. You’d imagine the Mares’ Chase would be her main aim come Cheltenham and I think she has the potential to bounce back from that last run.

“I don’t think anything has come to light since then. She seems in good order at home. She’d won last year beating Champ Kiely on very testing ground around Fairyhouse. Leopardstown was her first run at that trip, maybe that’s the variable then, but she was beaten before the trip became an issue. I don’t think she turned up on the day.”

You can now use your Betfair and Paddy Power accounts to login

One ride is confirmed for Danny Mullins on day one for the meeting. At least he thinks it is.

“Blaze The Way will run in the Ultima on the first first day for my mother,” he says.

“The form of his win there in December has worked out well. Typically, even for Mags Mullins, he has three entries at the meeting, but the Ultima will probably be plan-A but options will be kept open."

And to ride a winner for your mother at the Festival?

“I’ll have a ride for my mother and my father this year and individually we’ve all had Cheltenham winners, multiple Grade Ones and bits and bobs, but if I was to ride a winner for my mother and father at Cheltenham... now that would be some week."

Family always plays a huge part for Danny Mullins at the Cheltenham Festival - this time more so than ever.

So it's back to sitting and waiting. And you feel frustrated at how long it can take Willie to firm up his plans!

More from David Ord

More from Sporting Life

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.