History in the making? Cheltenham-Ascot Gold Cup double on the horizon as Willie Mullins names top royal team

Willie Mullins has named a top-class team for Royal Ascot and the jumps phenomenon will make history by becoming the first trainer to win the Cheltenham and Ascot Gold Cups in the same year if Echoes In Rain lands the staying showpiece next week. 

Vauban is the most familiar name on the teamsheet as the 2022 Triumph Hurdle winner will return to the Flat to tackle the Copper Horse Stakes next Tuesday, but it is multiple Grade 1-winning mare Echoes In Rain who will bid to pull off an unprecedented feat. 

The legendary Vincent O'Brien is the only trainer to have won both the Ascot and Cheltenham Gold Cups, but not in the same year as his only victory in the summer showpiece came in 1958 with Gladness, the year Kerstin won Cheltenham's most coveted prize for Verly Bewicke.