Willie Mullins odds-on to have more winners than all British trainers combined - four things we've learned for Cheltenham

Here are four things we have learned from the jumps season on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival . . .

Gavin Cromwell a trainer to follow

There haven’t been many better target trainers this season than Gavin Cromwell, who has picked up numerous decent prizes on his British raids.

Gavin Cromwell (right) after My Mate Mozzie's victory at Cheltenham in OctoberCredit: JOHN GROSSICK

His 25 per cent strike-rate in Britain this season is better than Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott (albeit those two aren’t far behind) and, remarkably, no trainer has had more winners at Cheltenham this season than Cromwell.

Competition will naturally be at its toughest, but with the likes of Stumptown (8-1 Ultima), Inothewayurthinkin (7-2 Kim Muir) and Flooring Porter (12-1 Stayers’) among a strong team set to travel over, it would be a big shock if he were to leave the week without getting at least one.

Mullins will continue to smash records

The idea of one trainer having more winners than the entirety of a nation would have been fanciful at best only a few years ago, but coming hot on the heels of an utterly dominant display at the Dublin Racing Festival, Willie Mullins is odds-on to outscore the British at their own festival.

He is 4-5 with Sky Bet to train more winners than all British trainers combined and 9-4 to have the 11 winners needed to beat his record-breaking 2022 haul.

Willie Mullins: looks certain to reach 100 Cheltenham Festival winners this yearCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Of the 93 declarations for Tuesday, Mullins trains 21.5 per cent of them. He has 15 ready to run across the four Grade 1s – the same amount as all British trainers have in those same races put together.

Mullins won all eight Grade 1s at Leopardstown last month and needs only six more winners to reach a century at the Cheltenham Festival. It is possible he could reach that milestone on day one. 

As of Sunday afternoon he had the favourite for 14 of the 28 festival races. They won't all win, of course, and the challenge for punters is to find the right combination for those muggy accas.

JP McManus as hungry as ever for Cheltenham success

JP McManus turned 73 on Sunday, to match the number of Cheltenham Festival winners he has accrued, his first coming with Mister Donovan in 1982, and his appetite for jump racing shows no sign of waning.

Mystical Power warming up at Cheltenham on SundayCredit: Edward Whitaker

The leading owner heads to Cheltenham with a star-studded cast. Mystical Power and Jeriko Du Reponet give him a good chance of kicking off the week in the perfect fashion in the Supreme, before the likes of Fact To File, Jonbon and Dinoblue come out to play later, while he has an enviable hand to play in the handicaps with market leaders for the Ultima, Coral Cup, Grand Annual, Pertemps and Kim Muir.

He hardly needed the addition of two more favourites to his arsenal, but that’s what he got with the recent purchase of Ultima fancy Meetingofthewaters and Hunters’ Chase contender Its On The Line.

Expect to see plenty of green and gold in the winner's enclosure, and he could eclipse the seven winners he recorded in 2020.

Savour the Gold Cup more than ever

After a season of small fields for Grade 1 chases in Britain and Ireland, and a Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase where they may as well hand out the prizes already according to many pundits, this week we should savour the Gold Cup more than ever.

Yes, there will be a short-priced favourite, but Galopin Des Champs could immortalise himself as one of the greatest staying chasers of the modern era by completing an Irish-Cheltenham Gold Cup double for the second year in a row. 

Will it be Gold Cup glory again for Galopin Des Champs?Credit: Michael Steele

He is the star turn, but there is great depth behind him that is lacking in some of the other championship divisions. 

Fastorslow has beaten Galopin Des Champs twice and, although Shishkin can be as unpredictable as he is talented, on song he can definitely threaten.

Last year’s runner-up Bravemansgame is back, the King George scorer Hewick would be the most popular of winners, Grand National hero Corach Rambler is being tipped by some legendary figures and L’Homme Presse will be prepped perfectly by Venetia Williams.

As long as there are no late setbacks we should have a strong double-figure field and the best race of the season just when we need it.

Read these next:

'I don't know where this has come from' - Nicky Henderson reports Sir Gino to be '100 per cent' despite Triumph Hurdle drift 

 Paul Townend: 'We're expected to win every day we go racing - for Cheltenham, it's just that on steroids' 

 Confirmed runners and riders for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Champion Hurdle and Tuesday's other Cheltenham Festival races 

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