A capacity crowd had squeezed into the grandstands on Friday hoping to see a football legend lift the festival’s biggest prize, but the greatest trainer in National Hunt history had other ideas. The Gold Cup was one of the last races at the meeting to elude Willie Mullins until his first win in 2019. Now he has five, joining Tom Dreaper, Arkle’s trainer, as the co-holder of the all-time record, after Gaelic Warrior’s relentless charge up the hill to an eight-length success.
Paul Townend, meanwhile, is now out on his own as the only rider to win five Gold Cups, one more than Pat Taaffe, who steered Arkle to all three of his victories in the 1960s.
Gaelic Warrior is a different brand of steeplechaser to Al Boum Photo and Galopin Des Champs, who both recorded a pair of victories for Mullins and Townend. Those were French-breds, while Gaelic Warrior was foaled in Germany, sired by a Group One winner on the Flat. But his triumph was perhaps the most decisive of the five, and all the more commendable as he was pulling for his head in the early stages and running over the Gold Cup trip of three-and-a-quarter miles for the first time.
The race was effectively over from the moment that Townend sent Gaelic Warrior in to the lead before the second-last fence. The familiar pink colours of the former banker, Rich Ricci, had moved steadily towards the lead on the run down the hill, as Haiti Couleurs, the Welsh Grand National winner, cut out the running under Sean Bowen with The Jukebox Man – Harry Redknapp’s runner – in close attendance.
Both Haiti Couleurs and The Jukebox Man were out of contention soon afterwards, however. Haiti Couleurs made a mistake at the top of the hill and was running on empty, while The Jukebox Man dropped away after turning into the straight.
Jango Baie, closely matched with Gaelic Warrior on their form in a blanket finish to the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day, was alongside Gaelic Warrior in the pre-race betting as the 11-4 joint-favourite, but he was no match for the winner in the final furlong and crossed the line in second. Inothewayurthinkin, the defending champion, stayed on from well off the pace to finish third, but this was, for practical purposes, a one-horse race from two out.
Gaelic Warrior’s success set the seal on another outstanding week here for Mullins, Townend and also Ricci, whose popular mare, Lossiemouth, won the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday. Mullins and Townend also took Wednesday’s Champion Chase with Il Etait Temps, completing a rare treble in the biggest three races of the meeting.
Just three months ago, though, Mullins was struggling for winners and even, on occasion, wondering what had gone wrong.
“We had a little doubt and a wonder,” Mullins said. “But we knew the horses were fit and we could get them fitter, and I didn’t wind them up until they needed to be wound up just before Christmas.
“But sometimes it’s not you, it’s just a horse that you have expectations for and they just don’t turn out to be that horse. They might be next year, and you have to delve into why. But it was certainly one of the most trying winters we’ve ever had, and I would say it was all weather-related.
“You’ve got to believe, and I wake up in the morning thinking, this is part of the enjoyment, having a new problem to solve. If you were getting up every morning with the same thing to do every day, that would get a bit boring, so at least it added a good bit of spice to the season.”
Mullins also paid rich tribute to Townend’s significance to the stable after he took over the role from Ruby Walsh, the most successful jockey in festival history.
“When you meet Paul outside [the course] you wouldn’t dream that he’s such a record-breaking jockey and a top-class sportsman,” Mullins said. “He’s a very cool, calm, nice man, and what I really like about him is that when things get tough, he gets tougher and he doesn’t let bad days upset him. He’s back the following day and he’s 100%.”
In an alternate universe, Mullins’s son, Patrick, might have been riding Gaelic Warrior, as Townend would have been expected to ride Galopin Des Champs had the dual Gold Cup winner not been ruled out by injury last week.
“He pulled a little bit early on, but he was well behaved for Gaelic Warrior, to be honest,” Townend said. “He jumped really well and going into the third-last I just thought ‘don’t fall off him and get home’.
“I wasn’t going to slow him down any more, but he was jumping well and I wasn’t going to kick him into them either. He was extraordinary.”
J’Arrive to make up for festival miss in National
It was tough going for the punters at Cheltenham this week – one bookie described Wednesday’s parade of beaten favourites as a “historically successful day” – but Emmet Mullins could provide at least a little relief when he saddles J’Arrive De L’Est (3.00) in the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter on Saturday.
J’Arrive De L’Est made his first two starts since joining Mullins’s stable over Cheltenham’s cross-country course, and was a major gamble for the Kim Muir at the festival when the weights were published earlier this month.
He narrowly missed the cut at the final declaration stage on Tuesday, but J’Arrive De L’Est is clearly a well-handicapped horse from one of the sharpest stables around, and even at odds of around 3-1, the seven-year-old is a decent bet for Saturday’s £90k feature event.
Uttoxeter 1.50 Wellington Arch was no match for the handicap blot Tutti Quanti in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury last time but posted a seasonal-best in second and will appreciate the return to two-and-a-half miles.
Kempton 2.08 Like so many of Dan Skelton’s hurdlers, Chuggy has made a smooth transition to chasing and will have been freshened up by a break since his run at Aintree on Boxing Day.
Uttoxeter 2.25 The step up to three miles brought a career-best performance from A Pai De Nom at Newbury in February and a 5lb rise in the weights for that win looks lenient.
Kempton 2.40 A fierce pace is all but guaranteed here with several front-runners in the field and that should play to the strengths of Double Powerful, who has been dropped 2lb after a promising run at Musselburgh in February in a race that was not run to suit.
Kempton 3.18 Ryan’s Rocket needs to avoid the errors that have unseated his rider in two of his last three starts, but has more than enough talent to win this if so.
Uttoxeter 3.35 The progressive Kykorock made up plenty of ground to get within seven lengths of the winner at Haydock in January and the step up in trip could see further improvement.
