11 winners from his last 16 runners - can Willie Mullins maintain his spectacular form at Punchestown on Sunday?
Even by Willie Mullins’ ludicrously high standards his stable is going through a simply incredible run of form. 11 of Mullins’s last 15 runners have won and he heads into Sunday with four strong chances at Punchestown. Here, we assess his entries on the card.
Arctic Fly (1.40 Punchestown, Sunday)
A relative of the high-class hurdler Arctic Fire, Arctic Fly justified odds-on favouritism to land a Leopardstown bumper on debut in March.
She has not matched that form in Pattern company the last twice, but her sights have been lowered significantly for this hurdling debut and a repeat of her previous efforts will likely suffice.
Hubrisko (2.15 Punchestown, Sunday)
Backing Mullins-trained chasers blindly this season would have yielded an €18.40 profit and Hubrisko will bid to enhance that in the 3m beginners chase on Sunday.
The Rich and Susannah Ricci-owned six-year-old bumped into Champ Kiely and Hermes Allen over hurdles last season and put up a solid chasing debut effort when third at Tipperary last month.
Hubrisko travelled enthusiastically throughout that race and only weakened after a mistake at the final fence. He should go close with that experience under his belt.
Naruto (4.30 Punchestown, Sunday)
Naruto stepped forward on his debut third at Thurles when making all in a bumper at Killarney last month. He is now stepped up markedly in trip to 2m7½f for his first start over hurdles.
He must prove his stamina over this distance as he boasts a Flat-orientated pedigree, but he holds obvious claims with those in and around him in the betting looking more exposed.
Four Clean Aces (5.30 Punchestown, Sunday)
Willie and Patrick Mullins combined to land this bumper with Pink In The Park 12 months ago and they hold strong claims in this running with Four Clean Aces.
This daughter of Saint Des Saints held on gamely to land a 2m4f Tipperary bumper on debut earlier this year and that form has since been franked by the runner-up.
Dropping back to 2m is not expected to inconvenience Four Clean Aces and granted natural improvement from her debut run she should prove tough to beat.
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