WHILE we settle into a time of classics, Derby talk and Royal Ascot notebooks coming to hand, last weekend’s headline act on Sunday was again Willie Mullins landing a Grade 1, this time in France.
Taking a quick look back at the jumps season, it’s a pretty strong gauge of your success to look at how you fared on foreign soil and, looking at the National Hunt Grade 1 list in Britain, Willie Mullins again heads the table with 10 wins. The five top-rated chasers in Britain and Ireland are trained in Closutton.
The win total is a bit down on the last two seasons, but the British stables were stronger this time. The Mullins yard also suffered a few mid-season blips and there was no British trainers’ title to chase by the time Aintree came along.
In 2024-2025, Mullins didn’t get on the scoreboard until Kopek Des Bordes in Cheltenham’s Supreme whereas this season, Il Etait Temps kicked things off in early December and the stable were unlucky not to have four Grade 1s before the turn of the year, with Anzadam beaten a length and half in the Fighting Fifth and Gaelic Warrior just failing to add to Kitzbuhel’s win on King George day.
Things slowed then and, of his novice hurdlers, surprisingly only one won two Grade 1s, King Rasko Grey. Overall, novice hurdlers were hard to get a handle on, the handicappers taking the Supreme as the best race, with Old Park Star rated 2lb ahead of Sober Glory and Mydaddypaddy, but eight different Grade 1 winners in Britain and five more in Ireland, from Skylight Hustle, Talk The Talk, Doctor Steinberg, Eachtotheirown, and a British winner in Le Frimeur, made it hard to define who was best.
Misfortune
Of the British trainers, Nicky Henderson had an excellent season, seven Grade 1 wins his best in three years, but he again suffered misfortune to lose a star in Sir Gino. Dan Skelton put the numbers on the board both in prize money and quality with his best season of five Grade 1s.
It was a similarly odd situation with the novice chasers, Kopek Des Bordes (161) given the top rating but without a Grade 1 win. Twice a winner in Britain, Kitzbuhel, (on 155), you would have thought, deserved a higher rating off his two Grade 1s. Lulamba, Sixmilebridge, Kargese, Gold Dancer, Mirabad and Koktail Divin made up the rest of Grade 1 winners, while back home Kaid d’Authie, Romeo Coolio (3), Fleur In The Park, Western Fold, Salvator Mundi and Final Demand, chipped in with wins.
Overall, only five horses won more than one Grade 1 in Britain, three of them Irish, Il Etait Temps, Kitzbuhel and Home By The Lee, joining Jonbon and Grey Dawning on two wins.
Coming back home, Teahupoo also made it two top-level wins for the season, taking in Britain and Ireland, Brighterdaysahead had two, while Gaelic Warrior and Il Etait Temps won three in total. Lossiemouth stood out with her four Grade 1s over the season, home and away.
Jonbon deserves a special mention, as along with Lossiemouth, and Teahupoo, he is the only horse to have won a Grade 1 in each of the last four seasons.
GRADE 1 NH WINNERS IN BRITAIN
2023/2024 (39 races) 2024/2025 (38 races) 2025/2026 (38 races)
Willie Mullins 12 13 10
Nicky Henderson 6 6 7
Gordon Elliott 5 1 3
Dan Skelton 2 3 5
Henry de Bromhead 2 2 2
Joseph O’Brien - 1 3
Paul Nicholls 2 3 1
Fergal O’Brien 1 1 1
Ben Pauling` - 2 1
Gavin Cromwell 1 1 -
Gary Moore 2 - -
IT might be a very different landscape to our lives if we are all judged on what we might have done, rather than what we actually did.
The official jumps handicappers gave Kopek Des Bordes the top novice chaser of last season, based on their belief he would have won at Cheltenham and Punchestown had he not made errors.
Timeform’s end of season ratings also put him as top novice, excusing the two defeats in Grade 1s - “handicappers took the view that, under different circumstances, he’d have won both those spring Grade 1 prizes rather than none”.
With Kopek having just a beginners’ chase win on his scorecard, it might seem unfair to both Romeo Coolio and Kitzbuhel, who won five Grade 1s between them.
Picture an end-of-term report, where you must give your achievements for the year. What have you done?
Kopek: I nearly won two big races, but I tripped up in one and forgot how to jump near the end of another. I was going to win!.
What about you Romeo?: Well, I won three Grade 1s, beat the Aintree Grade 1 winner, Gold Dancer AND the Arkle Novices’ winner Kargese, my boss made me run in one race that was too long for me - “under different circumstances”… I might have won another!
It’s like rewarding a striker for missing an open goal! Darwin Nunez come back, all is forgiven, what a star you were!
I, for one, and I heard a few others, thought Kopek would have found more to pull back Kargese at Cheltenham, although she had the 7lb mares’ allowance, she beat him two and a quarter lengths and is rated 7lb below him. Again at Punchestown, I didn’t think Salvator Mundi had been asked for everything when Kopek fell two out.
He might have been a lucky lad to take the top honours and it will be interesting to see how he manages in the top flight next season, where no mistakes can be made.