BY MICHAEL O’LEARY
This weekend in Punchestown, two of Willie Mullins stable stars are set to make their seasonal debut as both Champion Hurdle winner State Man and dual Gold Cup Champion Galopin Des Champs are declared in The Morgiana Hurdle and Durkan Chase respectively.
This is the time of the year that The Champion Trainer unleashes his leading charges into action, as he attempts further glory following an extraordinary 2023-2024 season.
State Man was among the 12 original entries for tomorrow’s Morgiana Hurdle with Willie supplying 7 of those dozen entries, while Galopin Des Champs is among the 20 entries for The Durkan Chase on Sunday.
This years Champion Hurdle winner has dominated the two mile hurdling scene in Ireland for the past two seasons winning all of his 8 races, and tomorrow he will attempt to emulate the feat of Hurricane Fly (2012-2014) by winning The Morgiana Hurdle for three consecutive years.
Willie has won the race on 13 occassions with 12 of those victories coming in the past 13 years since 2011, and State Man will expect to be a long odds favorite to add another Morgiana Hurdle to The Goresbridge natives collection.
Lossiemouth is also among the entries for tomorrow’s feature race, and the mare has won at both The Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals the past two seasons having won 7 of her 8 starts in total.
Should Lossiemouth line-up, the mare will almost certainly be partnered by Danny Mullins as Paul Townend is committed to State Man.
On Sunday, Galopin Des Champs will line-up in The Durkan Chase looking to get one over The Martin Brassil trained Fastorslow, who has defeated the twice Cheltenham Gold Cup winner on the three previous occassions in Punchestown that they have met including last years Durkan Chase.
Willie had 10 entries among the original entries, and among those declared at time of writing is Il Etait Temps who has been a great money spinner for The Champion Trainer having won four Grade 1s.
The Joseph O’Brien trained Banbridge won a thrilling Champion Chase at The Punchestown Spring Festival and he was also among the original entries, while also declared was The Jimmy Mangan trained Spillanes Tower who was a Grade 1 winner at both The Fairyhouse and Punchestown Festivals.
All going to plan, both State Man and Galopin Des Champs will follow the exact same format again this season as they take in both The Leopardstown Christmas and Dublin Racing Festivals, before heading to Cheltenham and then back home to round off the season at The Punchestown Festival.
If Galopin Des Champs can pull off The Gold Cup hat-trick next March, he will follow in the footsteps of Golden Miller(1932-1936), Cottage Rake(1948-1950), Arkle(1964-1966) and Best Mate(2002-2004) by becoming the 5th horse to win Cheltenham’s most prestigious Steeplechase three years in succession, and also providing Willie Mullins with an equal record breaking 5th Gold Cup triumph alongside Tom Dreaper who was the trainer of Arkle.
Meanwhile, Gaelic Warrior is most likely to step up in trip to three miles and contest The King George Chase in Kempton on St. Stephens Day having been so impressive in winning The Arkle in Cheltenham last March.
Willie has twice previously trained the winner of The King George courtesy of Florida Pearl in 2001 and Tornado Flyer in 2021 with Danny Mullins on board.
Energumene won The Champion Chase twice at The Cheltenham Festival in 2022 and 2023 and after having missed all of last season through injury, he is most likely to make his comeback in The Hilly Way Chase in Cork on December 8th while also holding an entry in The Tingle Creek Chase in Sandown the previous day.
Aintree Grand National winner I am Maximus was touted off as a Gold Cup horse by his trainer, and it would be no surprise if The Gold Cup was used as a prep run prior to his defence of The Aintree showpiece next Spring.
As per usual, Willie will have a whole host of novices and bumper charges to look forward to in the months ahead, as he looks to enjoy another season to remember following on from last seasons extraordinary exploits that surpassed way beyond his expectations.
His phenomenal acheivements from last season will surely expect to feature in a wider sporting light at the various end of year awards in the weeks ahead, as part of a memorable year for Irish Sport.
