'My horse has the form in the book' - Paul Townend hoping Lossiemouth pick pays off in Triumph Hurdle

To Mullins or not to Mullins, that is the question. Willie Mullins has appeared to hold the key to the Triumph Hurdle for most of the season as Lossiemouth and Blood Destiny have taken turns at the top of the market for the juvenile championship. It looks a formality.

Or does it? Mullins might have won this last year with Vauban and have three Triumph victories overall, but he is just 3-60 with juveniles at the festival this century and that should be just two winners as Burning Victory wouldn’t have won if Goshen did not fall at the last in 2020.

Tekao fluffed his lines for the stable when sent off 3-1 favourite for the Fred Winter on Tuesday, a race that Mullins has yet to win, and it’s hard to escape the fact that the master trainer’s record with four-year-olds at the festival is poor in comparison with his overall tally.

It’s 4-11 that he wins this with either Blood Destiny or Lossiemouth, but would you really want to bet such short odds given his moderate strike-rate in the division at the meeting?

The answer depends on how much you like each of his runners. There seems to be two camps developing, with one convinced that Lossiemouth is his best chance and the other totally devoted to Blood Destiny. I can see the argument for one but not the other.

I know why many punters are willing to ignore the poor Mullins figures with regards to Blood Destiny because he has looked an outstanding juvenile in his two outings in Ireland.

He went off odds-on for both races and they weren’t strong contests but Blood Destiny, who looks a tearaway front-runner, never saw another rival when making all for his two wins and just when he appeared vulnerable he pulled away again like he had plenty of gas in the tank.

Blood Destiny looks like a special talent, but Lossiemouth less so. She comes here with it all to prove after her defeat in the Grade 1 juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown’s Dublin Racing Festival, when she was beaten two and a half lengths into second spot behind Gala Marceau.

Not a lot went right for Lossiemouth that day as she was hampered and found trouble in running, but she still appeared to hold every chance of catching Gala Marceau on the run to the last and just couldn’t get by on the run-in. Her finishing effort was tamer than expected.

There is every chance she will reverse the form with Gala Marceau, but there probably won’t be much between them again and neither appears to have the same level of ability as Blood Destiny.

It’s big prices for the remainder of the field behind the big three, but could course form have been overlooked? Active Duty and Jupiter Du Gite have the best piece of Cheltenham form on offer courtesy of their runs over course and distance on Trials day at the end of January.

Active Duty finished fourth and 17 lengths ahead of Jupiter Du Gite that day, but the latter was too free in front and failed to get home. He looks a similar type to Goshen and may be a likely contender to take on Blood Destiny in the early stages. There could be a battle.

However, it’s equally likely that Niall Houlihan might try to settle Jupiter Du Gite in behind Blood Destiny and he definitely looks capable of better provided he can prove more tractable.

Active Duty might struggle to confirm the places if he does, but you wouldn’t want to take a short price on Jupiter Du Gite in a match bet given he could completely blow out if he pulls.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

Townend: Lossiemouth showed huge ability in her two wins

Paul Townend and Willie Mullins have won this Grade 1 prize in two of the last three years and the top rider has opted to maintain the partnership with Lossiemouth.

She was unlucky in running when second to reopposing stablemate Gala Marceau in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival and Racing Post Ratings suggest she is the one to beat.

Lossiemouth had previously beaten that rival by seven and a half lengths in a Grade 2 event at Leopardstown over Christmas and has a 3-4 record under rules.

The top rider-trainer combination struck with Burning Victory in 2020 and Vauban last year.

Townend said: "I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which one I would ride. I'm happy to be on Lossiemouth but whether I'm on the right one remains to be seen. We were unlucky at the Dublin Racing Festival.

"She showed huge ability on her two wins before that and to get as close as she did to Gala Marceau after suffering so much interference that day was impressive. My horse has the form in the book so I sided with her."

Gala Marceau: beat Triumph favourite Lossiemouth last timeCredit: Patrick McCann

Gala Marceau sports a first-time hood in her bid to confirm the form with Lossiemouth under Danny Mullins, while the trainer’s son Patrick rides Blood Destiny, who is Lossiemouth’s main danger according to the market.

The Roaringwater Syndicate-owned hurdler is 2-2 since joining Mullins, landing a Cork maiden hurdle before winning by 18 lengths at Fairyhouse in January.

Assessing his leading contenders, Mullins said: "Lossiemouth was unlucky at Leopardstown and found plenty of trouble. I thought she did well to finish as close as she did to Gala Marceau at the line. With a smoother passage here, you'd like to think she has every chance.

"Blood Destiny is a lovely horse for the future and has done nothing wrong. He keeps on progressing and we think he has come forward again from Fairyhouse. He's a nice ride for Patrick to have picked up and I'm sure he will give him a great spin. His Fairyhouse win was franked the other day with Jazzy Matty winning the Boodles.

"We've put a hood on Gala Marceau to help her settle better. She's a nice filly with a decent chance."

Mark Walsh sports the green and gold silks of JP McManus aboard Zenta, who travelled strongly on the way to a three-length win over the reopposing Hypotenus in a Grade 3 contest at Fairyhouse on her stable debut for Mullins last month.

The other three runners from the top Closutton stable are big-priced outsiders. Sean O’Keeffe is aboard Gust Of Wind, who was fifth behind Gala Marceau and Lossiemouth last month, while sixth Cinsa takes her chance under Brian Hayes.

Je Garde is more intriguing. She makes her debut for Mullins on the back of an encouraging third at Auteuil in October and is partnered by Michael O’Sullivan.

On his other runners, Mullins said: "The rest of mine will need to step up but they are all promising horses for the future and the experience here will help them."

The British challenge

Just a fifth of this 15-runner field is trained in Britain and hopes of a home winner may lie with the talented Jupiter Du Gite bouncing back from a heavy defeat in the trial here in January.

The Gary Moore-trained four-year-old clearly has an engine, as evidenced when a 15-length winner on his British debut at odds of 66-1 in an introductory hurdle at Newbury.

The half-brother to Editeur Du Gite was priced at 8-1 for the Triumph with Sky Bet after that success but he was unable to enhance his festival credentials when a well-beaten sixth most recently.

Jupiter Du Gite ran too free that day and will need to settle better to be involved at the finish. His trainer believes the cut in the ground is a big plus for Niall Houlihan's mount.

Moore said: “That’s just him [running free] but we’ll take every precaution with him to try to get him to settle better. He’s hard to assess on his home work as he goes out on his own but he was very impressive at Newbury, which was a massive surprise.

“He deserves to line up on that run and he’s got his preferred cut in the ground, which is massive to him.”

Ben Pauling: saddles two of Britain's three runners in the Triumph Hurdle

Ben Pauling is responsible for the other two runners for Britain and his new recruit Jipcot is an intriguing contender.

Jipcot won a Listed juvenile hurdle at Pau for Patrice Quinton last month before being bought by the Megsons, who enjoyed festival success with stablemate Global Citizen last year.

Jipcot is a dual winner from three starts over hurdles and partnered by Luca Morgan, while Tom Cannon rides Active Duty, who finished in front of Jupiter Du Gite when fourth in the Triumph trial but has since been beaten at Market Rasen.

Pauling said: “We’ll have had Jipcot two weeks to the day on Friday and it’s a bit of a shot in the dark running him here. He’s a lovely horse, he moves and jumps well and his work is good.

“We bought him as a chaser for the future and he’s improving all the time. I think a lot of him on his form in France and although this is a big ask, I hope he can run well.

“Active Duty would have run in the Boodles but didn’t get in. His owners were keen to roll the dice and if he can travel into it and be competitive I’d be delighted. He ran well here before and seems better at Cheltenham than flat tracks.”

What they say

Denis Hogan, trainer of Almuhit
Ideally we would have wanted to get into the Boodles but he didn’t get in. He was running an okay race at Naas before he made a mistake three out after being left at the start and he didn’t face the blinkers that day so we’ve left them off now. It’s not ideal he’s wrong at the weights but hopefully he can run well.

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Ascending
He’s a lovely young horse who will be ridden to run well. If he runs into a place we'll be delighted. Losing your novice tag at this time of year in a maiden hurdle is hardly worthwhile but if he loses it in the Triumph it would be well worth it.

John McConnell, trainer of Hypotenus
It's a big ask on his second run but he's entitled to take his chance. He'll have definitely come on for his run at Fairyhouse and he's one we've always liked. He's a really nice horse and hopefully can run a big race.

Tom Mullins, trainer of Rightsotom
I think he’s a very good horse but he may just lack experience for this. He’s up to this level though and I’m hoping he’ll run well. I was very encouraged by his run at Fairyhouse, he’s had little problems all season and is only just coming right now.
Reporting by Jack Haynes

Friday's previews:

2.10 Cheltenham: 'I was surprised to see she's so big in the market - she's a crazy price' 

2.50 Cheltenham: 'Nothing will be coming home better than him' - trainer quotes and analysis for a typically competitive Albert Bartlett 

3.30 Cheltenham: Gold Cup: 'If he has a clear round it will be all to play for' - Willie Mullins on Galopin Des Champs 

4.10 Cheltenham: 'He's a beautiful mover' - Christie aiming to erase last year's pain with Vaucelet 

4.50 Cheltenham: a divisive favourite - will Allegorie De Vassy handle the Mares' Chase test? 

5.30 Cheltenham: 'We're hoping he can make his class tell' - quotes and analysis for the Martin Pipe 

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