Watch out Willie! This 14/1 shot can best Mullins in the fight for the trainers’ title

Wille Mullins has some decent chances on opening day.

Willie Mullins became the first Ireland-based trainer to claim the British National Hunt Trainers’ Championship for 70 years last term and many will fancy him again this year. The betting suggests Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls will be the ones chasing him down but there’s another candidate that may have been forgotten. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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‘His string should be well treated’

Nicky Henderson has won the trainers’ title six times before and he’s the value bet to make it seven this season. The last campaign was a write-off for the yard and it’s very obvious that his runners weren’t right for a large part of the season, especially in March.

Whilst this means that the stable had a tough time of it then, there should be some positive consequences that they can take advantage of this time around. His string should be very well treated after some bitterly disappointing efforts last term and that could yield plenty of winners now!

Cheltenham will prove key

No one will be able to stop Willie Mullins from winning a significant number of Cheltenham Festival races yet again. That being said, he won’t win them all and that’s where Henderson can stake a claim. He knows what it takes to win at Cheltenham and stable star Constitution Hill is back in business.

‘He’s undoubtedly the value bet’

According to the bookmakers, last year’s runner-up Dan Skelton is the most likely candidate should Mullins fail to win. There’s an argument to be made that the yard overperformed last season and it might be difficult for them to replicate that effort.

Paul Nicholls is next in the betting and without any standout stars, it could be another tough year. Henderson is available at 14/1 and is undoubtedly the value bet with that in mind. Mullins will be hard to beat but he should have one eye on the man from Seven Barrows.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.

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