Who Are The Main Willie Mullins Cheltenham Runners To Look For?

As the 2025 Festival draws nearer, horse racing fans will already be noting down the main Willie Mullins Cheltenham runners. As ever, many of these will feature in doubles, trebles and accas over the biggest jumps meeting of the season.

With that in mind, here at CheltenhamBettingSites, we pick out the leading Willie Mullins Cheltenham runners to add to your trackers. Plus look at their most likely Festival races, which gets going on Tuesday. 11th March.

Mullins, who has won 103 Cheltenham Festival races in total, is also long odds-on with the best Cheltenham betting sites to be the winning-most handler again this March.

Main Willie Mullins Cheltenham Runners Day One: Tuesday 11th March

1:20 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle: KOPEK DES BORDES

This exciting and unbeaten horse shot to the head of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle market after a facile win in the Tattersalls Irish Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown in early February.

Kopek Des Bordes now 2-2 over hurdles and will be looking to get the Cheltenham favourite backers off to a flyer in the 2025 Festival curtain raiser.

Mullins has also won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle seven times and it’s a race he has a lot of time for as it also provided him with his first ever Festival winner in 1995 (Tourist Attraction).

Kopek Des Bores will be a horse a lot of punters will use their day one Cheltenham betting offers on.

2:00 Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase – MAJBOROUGH

Last seen winning the Irish Arkle at the Dublin Racing Festival in February and moves to the top of the Arkle Novices’ Chase betting after former favourite Sir Gino was ruled out for the season with an infection 10 days later. Majborough is now the horse to beat in this Grade 1.

The loss of Sir Gino and forfeits by a number of other promising novices explains this. With his Cheltenham odds now making him one of the big day one banker, Majborough also won the Triumph Hurdle at the Festival in 2024.

If repeating Cheltenham success in the Arkle, he would become the first ever horse to win both the Triumph and this race. Oh, and top owner JP McManus has also never won two-mile novice chase at the Festival.

4:00 Champion Hurdle – LOSSIEMOUTH

Last year’s Mares’ Hurdle winner could upgrade to the Champion Hurdle at the Festival this season and take on the boys. Lossiemouth, a Rich & Susannah Ricci owned grey, needs to bounce back from falling in the Irish Champion Hurdle last time out at Leopardstown, however.

She could also revert back to the Mares’ Hurdle on day one and take on Brighterdaysahead – so watch this space. But, if heading, to the Champion Hurdle as planned, Lossiemouth looks to give Mullins a sixth success in the day one feature.

Main Willie Mullins Cheltenham Runners Day Two: Wednesday 12th March

1:20 Turners Novices’ Hurdle: FINAL DEMAND

Another race Willie Mullins has done well in over the years – winning the prize seven times, including last year with Ballyburn.

He’s got another strong hand in 2025 too, with another of his impressive Dublin Racing Festival winners Final Demand topping the list.

2:00 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase: BALLYBURN

As mentioned in the previous race, Ballyburn is already a Festival winner. Having won the Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle (Turners) at the Festival 12 months ago.

He’s been switched to fences this season and despite finding Sir Gino too quick over 2m at Kempton over Christmas – bounced back to winning ways in the Ladbroke Novice Chase at Leopardstown last time out.

Ballyburn remains a staying chaser of top potential and, if winning here, will have the Gold Cup as a big target in 2026.

Mullins also have another leading hope in this race in Dancing City.

4:00 BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase: GAELIC WARRIOR

Willie Mullins has only won the Champion Chase twice with Energumene on both occasions. However, he’ll be looking to add to that with his – not always straightforward – Gaelic Warrior. Another owned by the Riccis, he heads back to Prestbury Park as the 2024 Arkle Novices’ Chase winner.

Gaelic Warrior also faces a tough test in toppling Jonbon, who is the clear favourite for the Champion Chase. He also needs to bounce back from two average efforts at Leopardstown when beaten both times by the Joseph O’Brien improver Solness.

5:20 Weatherbys Champion Bumper: BAMBINO FEVER

With a stonking 13 wins in the Champion Bumper this race has made up 13% of the overall Cheltenham winners for Mullins.

The last of those successes came in 2024 with Jasmin De Vaux, while the first Willie Mullins Cheltenham runner to take his prize was Wither Or Which in 1996. He both rode and trained that one.

Mullins is sure to be mob-handed in the race again in 2025 but, after winning at the DRF in February, his Bambino Fever is one of the fancies in what looks a competitive heat.

Main Willie Mullins Cheltenham Runners Day Three: Thursday 13th March

1:20 Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle: MAUGHREEN

Another exciting mare unleashed by Mullins at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival is Maughreen. Related to former Champion Hurdle winner Faugheen, she impressed on her racecourse debut in a Punchestown bumper back in January 2024,

Maughreen returned after a year off the track for a successful hurdles bow around the same venue last time. Mullins has also already won this race five times, from its short time on the Cheltenham schedule (first run in 2016), but is on a losing run now of four heading into 2025.

3:20 Ryanair Chase: FACT TO FILE

Fact To File had been talked up as another Willie Mullins Cheltenham runner in the Gold Cup. However, after being fairly beaten twice this season by stablemate Galopin Des Champs, connections are expected to opt for a drop in trip and the Ryanair Chase.

Looking back on the Cheltenham results from last season, Fact To File won the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase and now looks to add to the five winners in the race Mullins already has. He’s also owned by JP McManus, who has won the Ryanair Chase just once in the past with Uxizandre (2015).

Main Willie Mullins Cheltenham Runners Day Four: Friday 14th March

2:40 Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase: DINOBLUE

Another of the newer Festival races, but one that Mullins has already won twice.

Dinoblue was a fair second in this race 12 months ago to Limerick Lace but will hope to go one better in a race owner JP McManus loves to target.

The top Irish owner has won the last three renewals and three of the four runnings in total.

4:00 Cheltenham Gold Cup: GALOPIN DES CHAMPS

Galopin Des Champs is 90% a staying chasing great. Having won the last three Irish Gold Cups and consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups.

But he’ll be looking to become a 100% hall-of-famer if adding a third Gold Cup in the final day of the 2025 Festival – and join the likes of Best Mate, Golden Miller, Cottage Rake and Arkle as 3+ winners of the blue riband.

Galopin Des Champs, who heads the Gold Cup betting, also landed the 2021 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Hurdle in 2021 at the Festival but fell at the last in the 2022 Turners Novices’ Chase.

This will be his fifth Festival race and Mullins will be hoping for a fifth Gold Cup. Having won two before with Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020.

Willie Mullins Has Been Top Cheltenham Festival Trainer 11 Times

Since winning his first top Cheltenham trainers’ title in 2011, Willie Mullins hasn’t looked back. The Closutton maestro has dominated since.

Winning ten more with his tally heading into the 2025 Festival now eleven Cheltenham top trainer wins. While after bagging nine more winners at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Mullins now stands at 103 winners (and counting) in total at the meeting.

Mullins is also the winning-most Festival trainer in the history of the meeting. With Nicky Henderson next best with 73 winners and Paul Nicholls with 49.

His best tally at a single festival is ten winners – which came in 2022.

Did You Know Willie Mullins Also Rode Three Cheltenham Festival Winners As A Jockey?

Not many people now that Willie Mullins was also a six-time amateur champion jockey in Ireland and rode three Festival winners at Cheltenham.

With the most famous being Wither Or Which, who he also trained, to win the 1996 Champion Bumper.

Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival FAQs

Note: All Willie Mullins Cheltenham figures are correct before the 2025 Festival.

Andy Newton

Betting Expert

Andy Newton is a well-known horse racing journalist, who regularly features on the Final Furlong Podcast, plus is a contributor to SportsCasting, GeeGeez.co.uk, FromTheStables and TrainersQuotes. Andy has also featured in the Official Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Guide and has a regular monthly column in the popular Racing Ahead magazine – where he specializes in horse racing trends and stats.

View all posts by Andy Newton