Ireland’s champion trainer Willie Mullins has an incredible team heading to the Cheltenham Festival in a few week’s time. It is arguably his strongest team yet, even taking into account Allaho’s withdrawal from the Ryanair Chase this week through injury.
Conor Fennelly of the Racing Post had an interview with Mullins this week and of all the horses they spoke about, Mullins’ eyes lit up speaking about one horse in particular. Check out today’s free horse racing tips on the website before we move on!
The horse that Willie Mullins was referring to was El Fabiolo, the current favourite for the Arkle on the Tuesday of the Cheltenham Festival. Mullins was quoted saying:
“I’ve always been keen on him. Go back to the second run of his life when he ran Jonbon to a neck at Aintree. I’m thinking no matter what happens he’s right up there. It just depends on which horse has improved most over the winter and our fellow seems to have come on a huge amount. The Irish Arkle looked such a hot race beforehand, so deep, and for him to come out and produce a performance like that was huge.”
A poor jump at the last probably cost El Fabiolo victory over hurdles the day he took on Jonbon at Aintree and after Jonbon’s lacklustre effort at the weekend, despite winning, Mullins’ runner deserves to be at the head of the Arkle market. It should be a fascinating clash and there’s unlikely to be a whole lot between them again! What a race we have in store.
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