BOOKMAKERS expect Willie Mullins to train at least eight or nine winners at Cheltenham next week.

Mullins has topped the leading trainer table at the Festival for the past five years. He saddled a record 10 winners at the 2022 meeting and had six last year. His lifetime total of 94 Festival winners (over a 30-year period) is also a record and he seems highly likely to reach a century next week.

The perennial champion Irish trainer is as short as 2/5 with BoyleSports to train more winners next week than all the British trainers combined.

Tuesday should be a good day for the Closutton team. At time of writing Mullins has the favourite in the first five races on the opening day and the second favourite in the other two contests.

It’s much the same on Wednesday, when Mullins is expected to saddle the market-leader in all races except the Cross-Country and Grand Annual.

Surprisingly, the yard does not have the favourite for any race on Thursday, when Jade De Grugy looks to be their best chance of a winner in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

It’s business as usual then on Friday when Mullins has four clear favourites and is strongly represented in the other three races.

Champion Hurdle

News this week that both Constitution Hill and Marine Nationale would miss the Champion Hurdle and Arkle Chase respectively had a huge effect on the shape of Tuesday’s card.

The Mullins-trained State Man is now the shortest-priced favourite of the entire week at odds of 2/5 or shorter for the Champion Hurdle, while the stable’s Arkle Chase contenders Gaelic Warrior, Il Etait Temps and Hunters Yarn represent a formidable team, and one which could also include Facile Vega.

Betting companies anticipate punters will be including many of the Mullins hot-pots in multiple bets during the week.

“It looks like State Man will be the Irish banker for this year’s Cheltenham Festival,” said BoyleSports spokesman Brian O’Keeffe. “We are expecting momentum and liabilities to start building behind him now pretty rapidly, especially if Ballyburn goes for the Supreme, as punters will likely latch onto the short-priced Willie Mullins treble on Tuesday, with Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle.

“It could be a long week for us if Tuesday doesn’t go our way and we imagine that State Man will be an accumulator maker or breaker for a lot of people across the four days.”

Many layers are hoping something will emerge from the periphery to take on State Man, with Sam Boswell of BetVictor eager to see fellow Irish raiders Irish Point and Lossiemouth rerouted to the Champion Hurdle picture. Final declarations will be known on Sunday morning.

State Man’s stable companion Lossiemouth (7/2) and the Gordon Elliott-trained Irish Point (9/2) remain in the mix but both have potential alternative targets. Fourth favourite is the Nicky Henderson-trained Iberico Lord, who was supplemented for the Champion Hurdle this week. His owner J.P. McManus has strengthened his Tuesday hand by purchasing Ultima Handicap Chase favourite Meetingofthewaters, trained by Willie Mullins.

Mullins is as short as 1/12 to claim his 11th leading trainer title next week and stable jockey Paul Townend a 1/3 shot to become leading jockey.

Team Mullins is just 7/2 to have 11 winners or more this year, and 9/1 to win an unbelievable 12 races or more across the four days.

Despite failing to have a winner in the opening 14 races at the 2017 Festival, Mullins still managed to send out six winners in total, including a four-timer on Stayers’ Hurdle Day and a slow start is no guarantee that the bookies have escaped unscathed.