3.05 Leopardstown: 'He has a relaxed way of racing' - Mullins has no stamina concerns for Galopin Des Champs

Willie Mullins has not lost any sleep worrying about whether Galopin Des Champs will get home on his first try at three miles over fences. He is convinced he will stay.

He certainly stayed the trip over hurdles as a young horse anyway. As a whippersnapper, he bolted up by a dozen lengths in the Irish Mirror Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown festival in 2021 where he had Stattler over 13 lengths behind him in third. He wasn't stopping that day when he was an unfurnished five-year-old.

Two years later and Galopin Des Champs finds himself long odds-on for the Irish Gold Cup and no bigger than 13-8 for the most prestigious prize in jump racing at Cheltenham next month.

Mullins said: "We’re looking forward to getting him out on a track he’s won at before. They seem to have put plenty of water on it and even though he’s never raced at three miles over fences, I’m very happy he’ll stay.

"He has a relaxed way of racing and showed us he has a nice, relaxed way of jumping the last day at Punchestown. We’re coming here hoping he can add an Irish Gold Cup to his CV."

Galopin Des Champs: won over three miles as a hurdlerCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Paul Townend was particularly impressed with the way Galopin Des Champs settled in the John Durkan but is putting all talk of Cheltenham Gold Cup glory on hold until getting this assignment out of the way first.

Townend said: "Galopin really impressed me in the John Durkan. He steps up to try three miles over fences, but he's a Grade 1 winner over three miles over hurdles and I love the way he settles and that will give him a brilliant chance of getting home.

"He is on the road for the Gold Cup so he will have to win this if he wants to be favourite for Cheltenham. We will focus on winning this first before getting ahead of ourselves. I think he will take a lot of beating. Stattler ran a cracker at Tramore when he was second to Minella Indo. He will improve for his seasonal debut, but my horse is very exciting."

Is Stattler the sleeping giant of the staying chasers?

Stattler is only 7-1 with Paddy Power to supply Willie Mullins with a third Cheltenham Gold Cup and his son Patrick is looking forward to being reunited with him for the first time since their National Hunt Chase success together.

The champion amateur said: "He was a dream ride at Cheltenham last year. The way he beat Run Wild Fred proved he's not just an out-and-out galloper. The ground was quite quick and he really quickened away. He is not as slow as people seem to think. Galopin Des Champs is exciting and he's going to be very, very difficult to beat but I'm looking forward to riding Stattler again."

Although beaten by Minella Indo on his reappearance on New Year's Day at Tramore, Willie Mullins was pleased with the performance and thinks there is more to come from the unexposed eight-year-old.

The trainer said: "Patrick was keen to get back on board him. He ran a very good race behind Minella Indo at Tramore. That puts him in here with a good chance. With normal improvement from him he’s right in the mix."

What they say 

Ted Walsh, trainer of Any Second Now
He's in great nick. He could be third and, you never know, he could be second if Stattler doesn't perform up to scratch, but he's a young up-and-coming horse who is open to improvement so I suppose I'd be hoping for third. Mark will be taking his time on him and I think he's capable of running well.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Franco De Port and Kemboy
Kemboy won this race two years ago and if the track hadn’t been watered it would have suited him more, but he likes Leopardstown. He likes to front run. Danny has elected to stick with Franco De Port. He gets on well with the horse and this will be a truly run race. Franco won an Irish Arkle here over two miles as a novice and if the pace is too generous up front this fellow will be staying on at the finish.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Fury Road
He ran a big race in the Savills Chase when third to Conflated and, while Galopin Des Champs is obviously going to be very hard to beat, I wouldn't be surprised to see Fury Road running a big race. He's won a Grade 1 at Leopardstown and he seems to like the place.

Peter Fahey, trainer of The Big Dog
The Grand National at Aintree is the ultimate aim. We were going to go for the Bobbyjo at Fairyhouse but we thought it was a bit too close for comfort so we're coming here instead. I know he's up against it but I'm hoping he'll run well.

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