'All she needs to do is turn up' - Willie Mullins' four strongest Cheltenham chances

‘All she needs to do is turn up’ – Willie Mullins’ four strongest Cheltenham chances

Liam Bramall

Published: January 14, 2026

Horse racing is in Liam's blood and his biggest passion is jumps racing. He can often be found at his favourite tracks; Chepstow and Cheltenham in the Autumn when the National Hunt action kicks off. In his own words: "I'm often referred to as a walking form book, a trait which comes in handy from time to time. My proudest tipping success to date was landing a whopping 682-1 accumulator at Epsom."

The Cheltenham Festival may as well be renamed the Willie Mullins Festival, judging by the results in recent years. Ireland’s master trainer is a dominant force and that doesn’t look like changing any time soon. We’ll know more after the Dublin Racing Festival but as things stand he has four potential bankers so we’ve assessed their chances. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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CLAIM

Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase

Final Demand looks hard to oppose in this one, as the division doesn’t look too strong this year and there isn’t much of a challenge. Stablemate Kitbzbuhel won the Kauto Star at Kempton over Christmas and you would imagine that Mullins thinks Final Demand is the better of the two. Unbeaten in two starts over fences, he has the attributes needed to thrive in this race.

Mares’ Hurdle

Lossiemouth is inarguably the best mare in training at the moment and whilst connections are considering the Champion Hurdle, this race is obviously the best option. The daughter of Great Pretender is better over 2m4f and all she needs to do is turn up here.

Lossiemouth

Analysis

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Odds correct as of 10:44am 14th Jan

Triumph Hurdle

Narciso Has looked very smart when winning a Grade 2 at Leopardstown over Christmas and is now the ante-post favourite for the Triumph Hurdle. The JP McManus-owned four-year-old looks like the one to beat for now and his biggest competition will probably end up being stable companions. Mullins has won each of the last four renewals and this horse has every chance of making it five in-a-row.

Mares’ Chase

Dinoblue was in a league of her own when winning this race last year and it should be a similar story this time around. Mullins’ mare was a comfortable winner of a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse on New Years’ Day and it’s now all systems go for Cheltenham.

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