Willie Mullins was the toast of Cheltenham again on Day Three, with the legendary trainer picking up his sixth win of the Festival and his 100th overall.
Mullins' Jasmin De Vaux claimed win No.100 in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, 29 years after his very first victory with Tourist Attraction in the 1995 Supreme.
Thursday's card looks to give the opportunity for other trainers to take the limelight though, and here's Newsboy's 1-2-3 for each race.
1.30 TURNER'S NOVICES' CHASE
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NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3: 1 GINNY’S DESTINY, 2 IROKO, 3 GREY DAWNING
GINNY’S DESTINY has already built up a decent body of work over Cheltenham’s fences - and there is plenty more where that came from.
The winner of a Chepstow bumper and a novice hurdle at Warwick when in the care of Tom Lacey, Yeats’s son joined Paul Nicholls for a campaign in novice chases in the autumn.
Seventh at Cheltenham’s Showcase fixture in October, Ginny’s Destiny returned to the home of National Hunt Racing to land a handicap chase for rookies the following month before doubling up in a conditions novice event at the track 10 days before Christmas.
My selection then tackled the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase on Cheltenham’s Trials Day card in January and defied top weight and a rating of 147 to beat Theatre Man by two and three-quarter lengths.
Stablemate Stage Star was rated 142 when using the same race as a platform to Turners Novices’ Chase glory last year, so the omens are positive. Iroko lacks experience but not ability and is feared, along with Grey Dawning and Facile Vega .
2.10 PERTEMPS FINAL
NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3: 1 GAOTH CHUIL, 2 CUTHBERT DIBBLE, 3 CLEATUS POOLAW
GAOTH CHUIL is thriving over staying trips with cut in the ground and looks sure to give a good account of herself.
Having scored twice over two and a half miles - she won a maiden hurdle at Tramore and a handicap event Leopardstown - last season, the Ted Walsh-saddled daughter of Harzand began this season with silver medals over the same distance at Punchestown and Naas in the autumn.
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But Gaoth Chuil, whose name means ‘tail wind’ in Gaelic, stepped up to three miles to land a handicap hurdle by a neck from Farouk D’Alene at Leopardstown over Christmas.
And she put up another personal best with a three-quarter-length second to Maxxum in the three-mile handicap hurdle at the same track’s Dublin Racing Festival last month.
She is 7lb higher here, but Gaoth Chuil has more to give under these conditions and Shane O’Callaghan’s 5lb claim is another plus. Dangers lurk at every turn, with Cuthbert Dibble , Gabbys Cross and Cleatus Poolaw all capable of going well.
Rachel Blackmore on Envoi Allen in last year's Ryanair Chase (PA)2.50 RYANAIR CHASE
NEWSBOY’’S 1-2-3: 1 ENVOI ALLEN, 2 STAGE STAR, 3 CONFLATED
ENVOI ALLEN gets the vote to defend his title - and win his fourth race at the Cheltenham Festival.
The 10-year-old was the poster boy of National Hunt racing during his early career with Gordon Elliott - he won his first 12 races, including the 2019 Weatherbys Champion Bumper and the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle the following year.
But his invincibility couldn’t last forever, and Envoi Allen crashed out of the Turners Novices’ Chase in March 2021 on his debut for Henry de Bromhead before coming home in third behind Queen Mother Champion Chase victor Energumene 12 months later.
However, my selection and Rachael Blackmore returned to Prestbury Park to lift last season’s Ryanair Chase with a two-and-three-quarter-length beating of Shishkin for a fourth top-level triumph over the larger obstacles.
Envoi Allen has been off since a neck second to Gerri Colombe in the Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal in November but has an impressive record after a break and can become the third dual winner of the race after Albertas Run (2010 and 2011) and Allaho (2021 and 2022). Despite unseating on his last two outings, Conflated is respected, along with Stage Star and Protektorat .
3.30 STAYERS' HURDLE
NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3: 1 TEAHUPOO, 2 CRAMBO, 3 SIR GERHARD
TEAHUPOO didn’t get the breaks when a close third 12 months ago - but should make no mistake this time.
Punters made Gordon Elliott’s improver the 9-4 favourite for the 2023 running and Teahupoo passed the post three-quarters of a length and a nose behind Sire Du Berlais and Dashel Drasher .
But Davy Russell - Jack Kennedy is back in the plate - had to switch a couple of times as the race began in earnest and it’s not stretching credibility to believe Teahupoo would have run out a narrow winner had all the cards fallen his way. This season, we have seen the son of Masked Marvel just once, when defending his title in the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in December.
Teahupoo found Impaire Et Passe in his way, but it was the reigning champion who proved the stronger stayer over the two and a half miles, grinding to a one-length supremacy over the 4-5 favourite.
Elliott declared afterwards that the winner would be kept fresh for the Cheltenham Festival - disappointing for the National Hunt winter as a whole, but not surprising given that Teahupoo has five times been rested for more than 50 days, and made a winning return on each occasion.
The final piece in the jigsaw is the ground - Teahupoo, in all probability a stronger athlete at seven, needs cut to be seen at his best, so heavy rain on the eve of the four-day fixture is just what his backers were hoping for.
Crambo , a Grade 1 winner with a significant ‘up’ side, is taken to duke it out with Sir Gerhard and 12-year-olds Sire Du Berlais and Paisley Park for a place on the podium.
Harry Cobden rides Theatre Man (Tom Sandberg/PPAUK/REX/Shutterstock)4.10 PLATE HANDICAP CHASE
NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3: 1 THEATRE MAN, 2 SAINT FELICIEN, 3 CREBILLY
THEATRE MAN has yet to win a race over fences - but there’s no time like the present. The Richard Bandey-trained son of Ocovango, a two-time victor over hurdles, was bought to be a chaser - and has made a most encouraging start in the sphere.
On his fencing debut, at Newbury in November, Theatre Man finished a four-and-three-quarter-length second to Inch House, who went in from a 10lb higher mark next time. My selection raced too keenly for his own good when third to Brave Kingdom back at the Berkshire track five days before Christmas but put up his best effort yet with a second to Ginny’s Destiny over the Plate course and distance on the Trials Day card in January.
A 3lb rise looks well within range for a horse who is a long way yet from the bottom of the barrel and the booking of Harry Cobden for Theatre Man is the icing on the cake. The list of dangers is a long one, with Saint Felicien , Crebilly and Shakem Up’Arry at the top of it.
4.50 MARES NOVICES HURDLE
NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3: 1 JADE DE GRUGY, 2 BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD, 3 DYSART ENOS
JADE DE GRUGY is unbeaten coming into her first Cheltenham Festival - and she’s expected to stay that way.
Having made the perfect start to her career with a bumper win at Saint-Brieuc in Brittany in October 2022, Doctor Dino’s daughter left France to join Willie Mullins. Jade De Grugy made her hurdles debut at Leopardstown over Christmas and came home in splendid isolation with a 15-length margin from Butcher Hollow.
And she set herself up for this with a six-and-a-half-length call from stablemate A Penny A Hundred in a Grade 3 contest for mares at Fairyhouse in January. There is any amount of untapped potential to draw upon as Jade De Grugy competes under Rules for the third time, and Paul Townend’s partner is taken to pass her toughest test to date with flying colours.
Brighterdaysahead and Dysart Enos , likewise unbeaten mares with bright futures, and Birdie Or Bust are the most convincing candidates for the minor medals.
5.30 KIM MUIR CHALLENGE CUP
NEWSBOY’S 1-2-3: 1 WHERE IT ALL BEGAN, 2 WHACKER CLAN, 3 BOWTOGREATNESS
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN is well served by a searching test of stamina - and he’s likely to get that today.
Gordon Elliott’s Cullentra House stable has sent out three of the past eight winners of thius race and Where It All Began announced himself as a likely candidate when landing the Grand National Trial at Punchestown last month.
Punters got stuck into putative ‘good thing’ We’llhavewan, but the 5-4 favourite was powerless to respond when Jack Kennedy sent the eight-year-old to the front before the final fence, whence Where It All Began powered away for a 16-length margin.
The reckoning is a 12lb rise in the weights but Where It All Began is unexposed at beyond three miles and jockey Barry O’Neill is a high achiever in the amateur riders’ ranks. In a finale of endless possibilities, last year’s winner, Angels Dawn , Whacker Clan and Bowtogreatness are all worth a second glance.
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