He may not have the same firepower as his uncle Willie, but trainer Emmet Mullins knows how to get the best out of what he has in his yard, particularly when sending horses to handicaps in Britain.
ndeed, the biggest race of all, the Grand National, is already on the CV, thanks to Noble Yeats in 2022. Since taking out his licence in 2016, Mullins has had 41 runners in British handicaps, with 10 winning and another six placed to make him profitable to back.
Granted, Noble Yeats would have provided a lot of that profit at 50/1, but it’s also very interesting to follow his handicap entries in Britain when the money is down. Of the 12 handicap runners that went off as favourites, six won to provide a return on investment of 32pc to SP.
Among those winners was The Shunter, which was backed off the boards in the Plate Handicap in 2021, winning at 9/4 in a field of 21 runners. At the time of writing, Mullins’ So Scottish is available at 7/2 for today’s renewal of that race (4.10), and I’m going to take that price while I can, as this looks a similar plot – and I suspect he’ll be well-supported.
Lightly raced with just three chase starts, he won two of those and wasn’t disgraced when second to Boothill in a handicap at Ascot last time out in November, with Boothill since going on to win a Grade Two.
He’s been kept under wraps since, and I reckon his rating of 143 could mean he’s very well handicapped under Mark Walsh, even though Mullins successfully appealed against his rating and had it dropped by 1lb but too late to come into effect for today.
It’s unusual to have a Nap of the day in a 26-runner field, but all going well, he should prove hard to beat, now racing in the green and gold of JP McManus, who purchased the gelding after Ascot.
Of the rest, Il Ridoto and Haut En Couleurs should go well for Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins, respectively.
Priced around 4/5, Shishkin is skinny in the Ryanair Chase (2.50), but if his success last time in the Betfair Ascot Chase is anything to go by, the gelding is back near his best.
Following two defeats, Nicky Henderson took a chance and stepped him up in trip for that race, and it certainly did the trick, with a second wind operation also performed beforehand. I must admit that I’d backed Fakir D’Oudairies in that race, but in the end, it came down to a battle with Shishkin and Pic D’orhy, with Shishkin pulling clear and running away with it.
We all love a good comeback, and I’m confident we’ll see some great scenes at Cheltenham today, considering Shishkin’s bitter disappointment when pulled up in the Champion Chase last year.
As I said on Tuesday when backing Gaillard Du Mesnil under Patrick Mullins, it’s often worth siding with the best pilots in amateur jockey races and Jamie Codd has a great record in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase (5.30), winning four times.
He’s got a great chance again today on board Gordon Elliott’s Dunboyne, which trades at 8/1 following a good second in the Thyestes Handicap at Gowran Park last time out.
He’d won a handicap at that course back in November and clearly has a lot of talent, but my only concern with this horse is his temperament; he can occasionally have an off day for no apparent reason and has refused to race before.
Hopefully, he’ll be in good humour today and run a big one!
Race-by-race guide to Day 2
1.30
The Gordon Elliott-trained Mighty Potter was pulled up in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the festival last year, but he’s been exceptional since switching to fences, and has Grade One success to his name at Leopardstown and Fairyhouse. He can get the day off to a winning start, albeit at a short price, around even money.
2.10
Gordon Elliott has a good record here and Maxxum is respected, having shown improvement since moving to that yard. However, Thanksforthehelp gets the nod here around 5/1. He’s up 11lbs for an easy victory at Chepstow recently, but he’s still relatively unexposed with just six runs over hurdles.
2.50
Nicky Henderson’s Shishkin was disappointing when pulled up in the Champion Chase last year and a later loss at Sandown suggested he was not the force of old – but a step up in trip following a wind operation did the trick, and he was back to his brilliant best in the Betfair Ascot Chase. He’s short at 4/5 but should be hard to beat.
3.30
I’m a fan of Flooring Porter and hope he runs well after a setback, but Teahupoo is the safer option here at 4/1. He beat Klassical Dream and Honeysuckle in the Hatton’s Grace, and was an impressive winner of the John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran.
4.10
Emmett Mullins won this in 2021 with The Shunter which was well-supported in the market, and it looks like he has another one lined up here with So Scottish (7/2), a lightly-raced sort expected to improve significantly.
4.50
Ryanair sponsor this race, and it was kind of Michael O’Leary to run it in honour of Jack de Bromhead. It would be wonderful to see a Henry de Bromhead-trained winner, but at 6/4, the unbeaten Luccia looks laid out for this to give Nicky Henderson his first victory in this contest.
5.30
A race for amateur jockeys, Jamie Codd has won it four times and has strong claims once again on board Gordon Elliott’s Dunboyne (8/1). A handicap winner at Gowran, he ran very well at a big price to finish second in the Thyestes last time.
Stat Attack
Jonjo O’Neill has the trainer record for the most number of wins in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (2.10) at four, the latest being Holywell in 2013.
In recent times, Gordon Elliott has also targeted this race, winning it three times from 2018 to 2020, once with Delta Work and twice with Sire Du Berlais.
This year, O’Neill will saddle one runner, An Tailliur, which is reasonably well supported in the early markets at 10/1, while Elliott has four entries, the most prominent in the betting being Maxxum, the mount of Davy Russell at 6/1 at the time of writing.
There have been two winning favourites in the last 10 years, Sire Du Berlais at 4/1 (2019) and Fingal Bay at 9/2 (2014). Last year’s winner, Third Wind, went off at 25/1 for Hughie Morrison.