Top Cheltenham Festival trainer odds: Mullins to dominate again?
Who will train the most winners at the Cheltenham Festival?
One man dominates the top Cheltenham Festival trainer odds again this year but anything can happen over four fascinating days at Prestbury Park.
Britain and Ireland’s best handlers will have their horses in prime condition for the pinnacle of the National Hunt season.
Here are the trainers expected to enjoy success, with their prices to head the winners’ table:
WILLIE MULLINS @ 1/6
The legendary Irish handler has taken top spot for the past four years and nine times overall. Last season’s tally of 10 winners was a new record and put him on 88 career Cheltenham Festival triumphs, 16 more than the next best. The 66-year-old Closutton maestro is set to send over a dozen or more market leaders from the Emerald Isle, with Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs among his star performers. Facile Vega and El Fabiolo could get Mullins off to a flying start on day one of Cheltenham and set the tone for another spectacular week.
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NICKY HENDERSON @ 6/1
The Seven Barrows supremo last prevailed in this department back in 2012, when saddling seven winners. Now 72, the six-time champion trainer in Britain can boast a whole host of memorable victories among his 72 Festival wins, including a Champion Hurdle hat-trick for See You Then and multiple triumphs for Bobs Worth, Sprinter Sacre and Altior. Champion Hurdle hotpot Constitution Hill is rated by many as a banker bet this term and could lay the platform for further glory.
GORDON ELLIOTT @ 8/1
The Cullentra handler was banned from competing at last year’s Festival but will be back hungrier than ever, trying to regain the leading trainer crown he claimed in 2017 and 2018. His squad of novice chasers is particularly strong this term, with Gerri Colombe and Mighty Potter both strongly fancied to prevail. Teahupoo is a leading contender in the Stayers’ Hurdle and Delta Work is set to defend his cross-country title. Elliott always targets success in the handicaps as well and some unexposed types will have been laid out for their respective targets.
HENRY DE BROMHEAD @ 25/1
The Knockeen trainer enjoyed a famous treble two years ago when Honeysuckle won the Champion Hurdle, Put The Kettle On landed the Champion Chase and Minella Indo stormed home in the Gold Cup. Last season, wonder mare Honeysuckle retained her title and A Plus Tard powered to Gold Cup glory. De Bromhead’s stable stars do not seem in the same form this season, but Cheltenham could bring the best out of them once more.
PAUL NICHOLLS @ 33/1
Britain’s 13-time champion trainer can boast 46 Cheltenham Festival winners on his CV, including four Gold Cup victories. However, Nicholls has incredibly drawn a blank for the past two seasons, sending out 45 consecutive losers from his Ditcheat base since Politologue gave him a sixth Queen Mother Champion Chase success in 2020. Bravemansgame and Hermes Allen are among his big hopes of a revival but the 60-year-old is a longshot in the top Cheltenham Festival trainer odds.
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All odds and market correct at date of publication
