Can Willie Mullins win his first Cheltenham Gold Cup?

For the first time in three years, Mullins finds himself with some fascinating contenders near the top of the ante post mark for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Going for gold

There’s not many National Hunt races Willie Mullins hasn’t managed to get hold of in his 31-year career as a trainer, but the Cheltenham Gold Cup is one that continues to elude him.

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The County Kilkenny trainer set a new record at the Cheltenham Festival with eight winners back in 2015, a year in which his star stayer Djakadam finished runner-up in the Blue Ribband event for the second consecutive year. The grand servant to the stable was forced to retire back in June 2018 after sustaining a hock injury in the Grand Steeplechase de Paris.

However, the Irish Champion Trainer has a new crop for 2019’s renewal and has six entered at the latest stage of declarations.

Redemption for Al Boum Photo

The one that looks most interesting is the talented Al Boum Photo who bolted up at Tramore in Listed company on his seasonal return on New Year’s Day when leading home a one-two-three for Mullins.

The gelding had looked progressive last season prior to a bizarre incident at the Punchestown Festival. With the race at his mercy, there seemed to be confusion on whether the final fence would be omitted and the seven-year-old ploughed through the wing (through no fault of his own), denying him a second Grade 1 in succession after his prior success at Fairyhouse in the Ryanair Gold Cup.

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He’s relatively lightly raced for one that has achieved so much, and he could prove to be Mullins’ key contender in this year’s renewal. The son of Buck’s Boum is available to back at 16/1 and widely available at 14/1.

Stablemates Bellshill and Kemboy are two more that look set for a tilt at National Hunt racing’s biggest prize. The latter will need to step up again on his recent efforts, despite two wins in Graded company but the former arrives with the right sort of profile after getting the better of Road To Respect at the Dublin Festival at Leopardstown.

Whether Killultagh Vic, Rathvinded or Invitation Only take their place in the contest is more doubtful and much will depend on how they perform in their trial races in the coming weeks. The Graham Wiley owned runner also finds himself at 14/1 to win the contest at time of writing.

Walsh with options

One thing that is for certain is that Mullins won’t be short of ammunition for the race that has defied him for so long and no one will have a more difficult choice on who to ride come March 15 than stable jockey Ruby Walsh.

3️⃣6️⃣ entries for the 2019 £625,000 Magners @CheltenhamRaces Gold Cup, including:

🏇🏻 Presenting Percy
🏇🏻 Native River
🏇🏻 Might Bite
🏇🏻 Thistlecrack
🏇🏻 Bristol De Mai
🏇🏻 Clan Des Obeaux
🏇🏻 Elegant Escape
🏇🏻 Kemboy
🏇🏻 Al Boum Photo
🏇🏻 Road To Respect
🏇🏻 Terrefort
🏇🏻 Definitly Red pic.twitter.com/tQFOiTyTkf

— Racenews (@RacenewsService) February 13, 2019