Our man in Ireland has the latest ahead of Cheltenham

Patrick Mullins on some of the big Cheltenham decisions facing the team including the Champion Bumper

By David Ord

Horse Racing

Fri February 13, 2026 · 6h ago

On his trip to Ireland, our columnist got the thoughts of Patrick Mullins on Lossiemouth, Gaelic Warrior and a final bumper clue.

He might be a key member of the decision-making committee, but even Patrick Mullins is awaiting the final verdict over some of their big Cheltenham dilemmas.

Take the Boodles Gold Cup, for example. Whether Fact Or File is supplemented back into a race the Closutton team initially had entered him for, before the expulsion tool was brandished from elsewhere, will be down to JP McManus and Frank Berry.

But what they do will have a significant ripple effect elsewhere.

Should he be targeted at a Ryanair title defence, you’d imagine Gaelic Warrior would go for Gold. But if chasing’s blue riband is the way the Martinstown operation travel, then the Susannah and Rich Ricci star might be staring at an open goal in the Ryanair himself.

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Having ridden the latter in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, Mullins would like to be aboard him in the Cheltenham equivalent. In fact, he’d like that very much.

“When you look at Kempton and Aintree, where he obviously ran very well both times, and then the Cheltenham Gold Cup course, where all of them have the constant inside running rail so everyone races very tight, that’s how you can get him to settle.

“Whereas at Leopardstown - no inch of running rail, horses spread out all over the course, he gets a bit lit up,” he added, staring down the barrel of journalists’ phones at a Jockey Club media event in Ireland this week.

“I don’t think that was the difference between winning and losing the other day, but I think his form outside of Leopardstown is considerably better than his form at Leopardstown, so I think he could turn it around.

“But I think the track layout and the way the race will pan out where you can park him in a pocket with no daylight and get him to settle, I think will show him in a better light.”

Celebration time for Paul Townend on Gaelic Warrior

Gaelic Warrior is brilliant in the Arkle

But there have to be concerns surely… what about the undulating track at Prestbury Park?

“I don’t think it’s a major thing," said Mullins. "He obviously won the Arkle, but I do think the softer ground the better for him. I do think he’s probably better on softer ground, but I wouldn’t have any worries about the undulations, no."

What about three miles two-and-a-half furlongs, then?

“You don’t know until you try but I thought at Leopardstown after running a little keen he picked up from the second last to the finish line all the way. He pulled eight-and-a-half, nine lengths clear of Galopin Des Champs, so I don’t see why not."

And should Mullins ride, and should Gaelic Warrior win, he’d be completing a mighty double having steered Nick Rockett to victory in an unforgettable Randox Grand National last spring.

“If I could choose one, the Grand National would be the one and always was because of the history – but Sam Waley-Cohen won both so let’s try to match him!” he smiles.

Where should Lossiemouth run?

Then there are some of the other questions the team must answer.

As assistant trainer, does he feel Lossiemouth would be better suited to a defence of the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle crown rather than the speed test of the Unibet Champion Hurdle, for example?

“She’s at her best at two-and-a-half miles. But could she win the Champion Hurdle this year? Yes, she could. She’s run four times against Champion Hurdle-type horses and won once. That’s the thing at the back of your head. I don’t know,” he says.

“Three of her four defeats have been at the DRF so perhaps she’s not at her best there. I don’t really know why. I don’t think she really turned up at the DRF – it looked like Kempton all over again, but with a very different set of circumstances. We blamed the circumstances at Kempton so we won’t be blaming Leopardstown.

“To me it's not a foregone conclusion either way. It’s definitely a 50-50, particularly with not having State Man there. There was no doubt in our mind last year that State Man was the superior horse, full stop. Head and shoulders, that’s what Paul told us.”

Final Demand makes a sparkling debut over fences

Final Demand winning on his chasing debut

Final Demand. He had a major blowout in the Leopardstown mud on the final day of rain-sodden January.

Patrick was aboard for his previous win at Limerick. The perceived wisdom now seems to be that he was disappointing there too. The jockey disagrees.

“I thought he never hit racing gear that day. I thought he floated around. If I’d gone down and looked at a picture of the last I’d think he’d have won 12 lengths hard-held, as opposed to whatever he won by,” he adds.

“Whether he’s good, bad or indifferent ability-wise, he didn’t jump at Leopardstown. We know he didn’t jump, so to me you put a line through it. I look back at Gaelic Warrior in that race when they had the match with Fact To File, I look back to Vautour, and he jumped bad. You can go back to Kopek Des Bordes at Christmas with me last year when he jumped bad.

"If they jump bad they don’t run to their best. You’d love to find the conclusive reason as to why he jumped badly, but we haven’t found that. He is a bit below himself since the race so we’ve just freshened him up. But we’ve been in this position before with very good horses and we’ve turned them around."

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Where are we now with the Mullins bumper team?

One choice he definitely faces is picking between the bumper team. Jody Townend got the keys to Bambino Fever last season because Patrick couldn’t do the weight.

He’s in no rush to decide this time. How can he be when there’s one final key piece of evidence to come.

“Love Sign D'Aunou has put in the best performance, no doubt about it. It was over two miles two furlongs, a real strong gallop and he's very straightforward,” he said.

"I thought The Irish Avatar was also very good at Navan. Our Trigger would be a player, but I can't ride him at the weight. I want to get another go on Heldam, I think he's very good.

"Champagne Fever, Ferny Hollow and Allaho got beaten at Leopardstown over Christmas, so it isn't a nail in the coffin. I want to see him again before Cheltenham."

And he gets that chance in the bumper at Punchestown on Sunday if the rain eventually relents.

“I think he ran too keen at Christmas and is much better than that. As I said Champagne Fever and Ferny Hollow both got beat at Christmas and went on to win Champion Bumpers," he said on Friday morning as he headed towards Fakenham for a reunion with Stattler, in the rain.

“I’m looking forward to giving him a second chance. Gavin Cromwell’s horse (Begorra Man), was second to Gameofinches and Gordon’s horse (Soul Asylum) cost an awful lot of money, so even though there are only four runners it’s certainly a hot little race but if Heldam can do on the track what he does at home, I’ll be disappointed if he can’t win."

Another name potentially in the hat for next month then, and even if it adds to just one of the dilemmas, Patrick Mullins wouldn't have it any other way. From a slow start to the season, the bumper team at Closutton are hitting their stride at just the right time. Over to you, Heldam.