The Cheltenham Festival really is just around the corner now, so it’s time to get excited! It’s the Olympics of National Hunt racing and the entire season’s main focus. JP McManus is the biggest owner around and he has a formidable team of horses to send to Cheltenham, many of which are trained by the great Willie Mullins. We’ve combined four of his best chances into a Lucky 15 and all of them will take some beating. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
The New Lion has kind of become the Champion Hurdle favourite by default more than anything, but looks well set to go very close. The 2025 Turners Novices’ Hurdle winner was a faller in the Fighting Fifth but returned to winning ways here on the New Course on Trials’ Day in January. He appears to be the most solid option now, with question marks over Brighterdaysahead’s Cheltenham form.
Mighty Park blew the opposition away in a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse last time out and it was an unbelievable performance. It’s not often that you watch a bog standard maiden hurdle and immediately think you’ve just seen a Cheltenham Festival winner. There is the option of the Supreme but Willie Mullins’ latest update suggest the Turners will be the target.
Majborough‘s jumping can be a little scary at times but the Willie Mullins-trained gelding clearly has a massive engine. Marine Nationale was the biggest danger and his absence leaves Majborough as the most likely winner. His victory in the Dublin Chase at Leopardstown last time out was very impressive and perhaps positive tactics will see him to best effect once again.
Fact To File was in a league of his own when winning this race last year and returned to his best form when winning the Irish Gold Cup. Connections could be tempted to have a go in the Gold Cup but it seems like trainer Willie Mullins wants to pull off a repeat performance in this race. This horse has all the ability in the world when fully firing and would be very hard to beat.
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