‘The title charge is on’ – Willie Mullins sends one runner to Cheltenham on Thursday

Willie Mullins at the 2018 Cheltenham Festival

Last week’s Aintree Festival has had a dramatic impact on the British trainers’ championship. Willie Mullins won four Grade 1 races across the three days but more importantly, the Grand National and it’s £500,000 first-place prize.

The title charge is now on but Skelton and Nicholls won’t give up without a fight. Mullins sends just one runner over to Cheltenham on Thursday and it’s got to be worth keeping an eye on. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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1.30 Cheltenham

Karia Des Blaises looked rather interesting at a price in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle here during the Festival. Falling at the fourth flight, she only made it halfway round and it’s difficult to say how she would have fared.

It was a pretty underwhelming display from her in Grade 2 company at Fairyhouse last time out. She was a well beaten seventh of eight runners and never looked dangerous. Ndaawi who finished one place in front of her that day was third at Cheltenham before that, which provides some substance to the form.

Perhaps her best effort in Britain or Ireland thus far was her second to useful stablemate Miss Manzor at Fairyhouse in January. The four-year-old filly certainly looks up to winning races sooner rather than later and this is her best opportunity to date.

There’s plenty of Irish interest in this race, with three of the first four in the market being trained in Ireland. Arguably the most interesting of those three is Henry de Bromhead’s Emotivo, who makes her handicap debut off an attractive mark here and could provide the stiffest competition.

The winning prize for this race is £22,780 and that would provide a welcome boost to Willie Mullins’ title charge, as he seeks to hold off the best of the British.

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