Nina is onto a winner...
Trainer is ready to work his magic again
TOP jockey Nina Carberry has given us four horses to follow this week and a quick guide on what to watch out for.
She said: “Follow jockeys if they are in form and winning. Our own Paul Townend is going to be riding for Willie Mullins and he had two winners last Sunday and he is flying into the week.
“Rachael Blackmore rides brilliantly around Cheltenham so she is going to want to get her name on the winner board for Henry de Bromhead.”
Remember there is quite a lot of thought put into the betting market, often by people who are very clever at maths and crunching numbers, so there is a reason a horse would be a ‘favourite’.
Nina said: “The favourites in the betting for any given race are there for a reason so it is all about them producing on the day in the race that has been chosen for them.
“I would look for horses that have won at Cheltenham before, last year or the year before — that’s a massive thing.
Bumper
“So I see one of Rachael’s horses, Envoi Allen, he has won a bumper (without fences) he has won over hurdles (small fences) he won a big race over fences there before and is going for a fourth win.”
There are other factors that are more important than the blizzard of stats available.
“If I was picking a horse I would go for this order, the horse that won before,” she said.
“Then there is a thing called a ‘course specialist’, that means the horse in question has won a race at the racetrack he is running on before. This week I would be looking for someone who has won at Cheltenham before.
“Look for a horse that has won before, if he has won lots of times all the better. If a trainer starts winning he is worth following, same for a top jockey.”
WILLIE Mullins and Paul Townend look set to dominate the Cheltenham Festival once again when the action gets underway this afternoon.
The powerful duo are set to be responsible for four of the seven favourites on the opening day, and Mullins could incredibly end up seeing one of his runners sent off the favourite in every single one of today’s contests.
Champion trainer Mullins is just six festival victories away from becoming the first ever person to train 100 winners at the famous meeting — and it seems to be a case of when rather than if he reaches the milestone this week.
The Carlow handler’s runners Tullyhill and Mystical Power are vying for favouritism at the top of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle market, which kicks off the action at 1.30pm.
Mullins also has three towards the top of the betting in the Arkle (Gaelic Warrior, Il Etait Temps and Hunters Yarn) before JP McManus’ recent purchase Meetingofthewaters runs in the Ultima Handicap Chase.
Cover
And if the master of Closutton has multiple winners on the board by then, the bookies will really be running for cover before 1/3 favourite State Man aims to give Mullins a fifth Champion Hurdle success in the day’s feature race, with another odds-on favourite in Lossiemouth expected to take all the beating in the Mares’ Hurdle.
Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “Mullins mania has swept the nation ahead of day one of the festival. Wherever Mullins goes, money follows and tomorrow punters will be keeping everything crossed that the banker double of State Man and Lossiemouth gets them off on the right foot.”
Sharon McHugh of BoyleSports added: “It’s like Christmas morning…the excitement is palpable as the Cheltenham Festival gets under way.
“There’s been a lot of mention from scared bookies about multiples involving Galopin Des Champs and bets at big odds on Hewick in the Gold Cup on Friday, but today we’ll be trying to get our nose ahead in the curtain raiser on Day 1!
“It’s Henry de Bromhead’s Slade Steel that has caught the eyes of punters in the Supreme Novices and we’ve seen plenty of money for him over the last 24 hours.”
Meanwhile, legendary jockey Barry Geraghty believes Mullins will once again have more winners than every British trainer put together as Irish handlers seek revenge for Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to England at Twickenham last weekend. He told The Star: “Willie Mullins, let alone the whole of Ireland, will have more winners than Great Britain by the looks of it. “The only Grade 1 I’d be confident in saying the British will win is the Turners, then I suppose the handicaps are wide-open. “It’s hard to put a number on it, but I’d say they’d be lucky to have six winners over the four days, so we could be looking at something like 22-6! “I suppose it’s just revenge for the rugby…”
But Geraghty thinks the opening race of the week could go to Gordon Elliott and provide Jack Kennedy with his 12th festival success.
The William Hill ambassador said: “I’m a Firefox fan. He scoped badly and was lame after disappointing at Naas and has some very smart form before that.
ON THE WAY: Racing fans Adrian Graig, Carl Byrne, Brian Kane and Derek Moran at Dublin Airport; (inset) Gerry Copeland
“Mystical Power is interesting, and definitely the unknown quantity, but I feel Firefox has the stronger bumper form, so I’ll be taking on Willie in the Supreme.
“The other two Grade 1 hurdles on Tuesday are both Willie’s for the taking, though. Barring an Annie Power moment, I can’t see State Man or Lossiemouth being beaten if they line up.”
In the penultimate race at 4.50pm, Mullins runs the trio of Batman Girac, Karia Des Blaises and Miss Manzor, but Embassy Gardens could provide him with “one of the most important wins of the week” in the last race, with the National Hunt Chase being run in memory of his mother Maureen, who passed away aged 94 last month, with the trainer’s son Patrick riding the horse.
“I rode lots for the Mullins family over the years, including a winner in the Dawn Run colours for Maureen’s husband, Paddy, on the day Bobbyjo won the National in ’99,” said Geraghty.
“If Embassy Gardens can win the National Hunt Chase, named in her honour, then that will be one of the most important wins of the week for Willie.”
● Barry Geraghty is a William Hill ambassador. William Hill are giving all new and existing customers a €5 free bet for each day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival.