Mullins ‘delighted’ with Galopin Des Champs ahead of Dublin Racing Festival

Willie Mullins, who trains his horses in County Carlow, is not expecting to replicate last year’s monumental achievement of winning all the Grade One races at the Dublin Racing Festival – but is confident he has staying star Galopin Des Champs fully primed to hunt a third Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup.

The two-day Leopardstown spectacular has been a happy hunting ground for the perennial Irish champion trainer since its formation. But he proved more dominant than ever 12 months ago when winning nine of the meeting’s 17 races – eight at Grade One level.

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He would go on to saddle the same amount of victors at the Cheltenham Festival en route to becoming not only the first man to go past 100 winners at the Prestbury Park showpiece but also claiming the British trainers’ title.

However, Mullins stresses big-race success is never taken for granted at Closutton.

“I would say the eight winners wouldn’t happen again and it was just a phenomenal year – not just the Dublin Racing Festival, the whole year,” he said.

“We were written off at Christmas I think, or just before Christmas, by the keyboard warriors – and then the whole thing just came together. If someone came to you with a Hollywood script and said you are going to do this, this and this and finish off here, I wouldn’t have expected it.

“It’s like Cheltenham, some years you go with almost 10 favourites, but they might not even win and you might only win with three or four of them.

“I’m always amazed at the confidence people have in us going into the Dublin Racing Festival or Cheltenham and they think it’s automatic, but we load them up here hoping, rather than expecting.”

Mullins may be playing down his chances, but there would surely be disappointment in County Carlow if he is unable to extend his dominance in the feature Irish Gold Cup, where the hat-trick-seeking Galopin Des Champs is set to again put his impeccable Leopardstown record on the line against stablemate Fact To File.

The young pretender to Galopin Des Champs’ crown may have claimed the scalp of the dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner in the John Durkan, but was firmly put in his place by his elder over course and distance in the Savills Chase, with Mullins feeling he has his ace card ready for another big display.

“I’m delighted with how Galopin Des Champs has come out of the race at Christmas, I think we’re all set for Leopardstown and maybe another showdown with Fact To File,” said Mullins.

“To me, Galopin was awesome, he put in a huge performance at Leopardstown winning the Savills. He just loves Leopardstown and hopefully he can do it one more time.”

Fact To File proved far too keen in that second clash of the Closutton stayers, with connections considering an alternative gameplan as they try to conjure up a way of toppling the Leopardstown specialist.

“Fact To File is good, I think both Mark (Walsh, jockey) and JP (McManus, owner) are keen to take on Galopin Des Champs again and so, all being well, he will,” Mullins added.

“I think we might have to do something different, I’ll leave that to Mark and see what he wants to do. He might have a different tactic up his sleeve, but we won’t discuss that until we’re in the parade ring before the race.”

Such is the wealth of talent at Mullins’ disposal, it is inevitable many of his stars will lock horns, with Tramore winner Embassy Gardens and Grand National hero I Am Maximus just two others from a host of names who could take on the Irish Gold Cup challenge.

Star novice chasers Majborough and Ballyburn are other key figures who could be in action at the Foxrock track, with Mullins more than prepared to let his string take each other on during two of the most important days in the Irish jumping calendar.

“I think you have to let them take each other on and the races are there for those horses, they can’t run in other races,” said Mullins.

“We go racing now and if there are seven races, we might have horses that are only qualified to run in three of them.

“So the good horses are sort of barred out from all the races and there’s only a certain amount of races to run in. I think when people invest money in good horses, you have to run them in the good races.”