Willie Mullins has defended the decision to run Lossiemouth in the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham on Tuesday rather than tackle the Champion Hurdle on the same day.
The six-year-old is a dual Festival winner, with victory in the Mares' Hurdle 12 months ago preceded by Triumph Hurdle success in 2023.
For much of this season the Champion Hurdle was set to be her primary objective, but after dominating the Stayers' Hurdle winner Teahupoo in the Hatton's Grace at Fairyhouse on her season reappearance, she had to settle for second behind Constitution Hill at Kempton.
Lossiemouth then suffered a crashing fall in last month's Irish Champion Hurdle, but connections still pointed towards the Champion Hurdle as the fruition of a long-term plan.
But while Gordon Elliott nailed his colours to the Champion Hurdle mast with his star mare Brighterdaysahead, Lossiemouth was also left in the Mares' Hurdle at the confirmation stage and the final call to take the perceived easier option came when declarations were made on Sunday.
Explaining the decision at Cheltenham on Monday morning, Mullins told Racing TV: "I think she's good. She's good enough and worked nicely last week, but I was happy enough that State Man worked better than her and Paul (Townend) was not going to ride her in the Champion Hurdle, so that made it (running in Mares' Hurdle) the obvious thing to do I think.
"It's been our plan for two years to run her in the Champion Hurdle, but after work the other day we felt she'd just be a runner. It's disappointing and I'm thinking where will she meet those horses, maybe at Aintree or something like that.
"She'll get her chance to meet them at some stage but coming here this week, my duty is to get winners for owners and her best chance of a win is in the Mares' Hurdle, we think, rather than the Champion Hurdle.
"Rich (Ricci) has put big investment into the game and everyone wants to have a winner here at the Festival. You can slice and dice it whatever way you want and you say 'where is the best opportunity' and that is where the best opportunity was."
The Closutton handler also saddles Jade De Grugy, who would have been favourite but for Lossiemouth's late switch following a comeback win at Punchestown last month, as well as Gala Marceau.
Nicky Henderson's Joyeuse looked set to miss Cheltenham following her lucrative success in the William Hurdle at Newbury last month as she is one short of the five runs required to be eligible for the Festival's handicap hurdles.
However, connections decided to supplement her for the Mares' Hurdle last week.
"She is very good and she's improving, but she's going to have to improve again," said Henderson.
"She did win at Newbury very impressively, but she wasn't carrying a lot of weight and the handicapper gave her 15lb. Realistically we need to find another 10lb.
"We supplemented her and we decided to do that before Brighterdaysahead committed to the Champion Hurdle. We're not running for place money, but if she does get place money it will cover her supplementary fee. She is well, she's got to improve again, but she might do."
Henry de Bromhead, who saddled the great Honeysuckle to win this race twice either side of her Champion Hurdle victories in 2021 and 2022, is this year represented by July Flower.
Having begun her career in France, the six-year-old then had one run for De Bromhead at Aintree before returning to her homeland for well over a year.
De Bromhead spotted the opportunity to buy back July Flower last summer, going to €350,000 to secure her services, and she made an impressive second debut for the yard in a Grade Three at Leopardstown over the Christmas period.
"She's great and she's flying, in really good form," said De Bromhead.
"We backed off her after Leopardstown, she's a lovely mare and I was delighted we were able to get her.
"We had her as a young horse, then she moved to France and when she came on the market she was one that we were keen to get, so it's great that she justified getting her at Christmas and hopefully she'll do that at Cheltenham."
Lossiemouth's absence means Constitution Hill will face six rivals in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
Mullins will rely on defending champion State Man and rank outsider Winter Fog.
Gordon Elliott’s star mare Brighterdaysahead will go up against the boys and be accompanied by stablemate King Of Kingsfield, who acted as a pacemaker for her spectacular Neville Hotels Hurdle success at Leopardstown over Christmas.
The Jeremy Scott-trained Golden Ace beat Brighterdaysahead in last year’s Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and will renew that rivalry.
James Owen’s two-time course winner Burdett Road completes the line-up.
Emotions will be running high ahead of the Michael O'Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but Mullins is looking to keep a lid on Kopek Des Bordes for the Cheltenham Festival curtain-raiser.
In a race run this year in memory of O'Sullivan, who died last month at the age of 24 following injuries suffered in a fall at Thurles, the hot favourite will be fitted with a hood after taking a keen hold under Paul Townend at the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown last time out.
The fact that Kopek Des Bordes still had enough energy to eventually power clear for a spectacular 13-length Grade One success is an ominous sign for his rivals, but Mullins clearly wants to curb his enthusiasm at Prestbury Park.
Mullins said: "Paul got off the horse after the race and said he ran away with him three times in the race. Most normal horses, if you run away with a jockey once, that’s enough, their winning chance has gone.
"But he was running away with him through the race, then when a loose horse came up, I was watching it unfold and thought 'this is going to drive this fellow mad’ – which it did.
"He went on two or three lengths around the second-last bend coming to the second-last hurdle and then Paul got a grip on him again before he went away up the straight.
"It was a huge performance; we’d never ask a horse that question at home, and it blew my mind what he did at Leopardstown, against a field of top-class horses."
The Closutton handler will field half of the 12 runners as he goes in search of a record-extending eighth victory in a race he has previously won with Tourist Attraction, Ebaziyan, Champagne Fever, Vautour, Douvan, Klassical Dream and Appreciate It.
While Townend sticks with Kopek Des Bordes, Patrick Mullins will partner Salvator Mundi, who was sixth in last year’s Triumph but returns to Prestbury Park with a Grade Two strike at Punchestown in January on his CV.
"He has a very tender mouth, as we saw in Punchestown, and I think he has a lot of tactical speed when he wants it, but he didn’t jump so well because they were going so slow the other day," said Mullins. "He’s going to need it I think, with Kopek Des Bordes in the race.
"The race the other day was inconclusive, but the thing I liked about it was after looking like he had blown up at the second-last, once he got his second wind, he came through and won convincingly. For me, it takes a good horse to do that."
Gordon Elliott’s Romeo Coolio was a £420,000 (€500k) purchase two years ago but has gone some way towards justifying that price tag, finishing second in last season’s Champion Bumper and this term landing a Grade Two novice hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas by nine lengths.
Elliott said: "He was very good at Christmas; obviously Willie’s horse was very good at the Dublin Racing Festival and you’d have to be impressed with him, but our lad has been to Cheltenham and run a good race.
"I think we learnt a lot from him getting beat in Fairyhouse (at the start of December). We were riding him for speed and a bit like Brighterdaysahead, he’s got a good cruising speed, so we rode a no nonsense race with him in Leopardstown and it really suited him.
"I think that will suit in the Supreme as well, as if you can get out handy and they can jump and travel, it can suit.
"We’ve been placed with horses that hadn’t as high a profile as him going into the Supreme, so I think he’s got a good chance, but I was very impressed with Willie’s horse."
Workahead is another who has been given a break since making all to win a Boxing Day maiden by seven lengths. Henry de Bromhead said: "He certainly looked really exciting at Christmas, we were delighted with him.
"He ran nicely at Navan when he hadn’t run for a long time, but he looked different gravy at Leopardstown and you’d have to be very excited about him. Obviously, it looks a very good Supreme again, but I think we’re bang there.
"We’ve Sky Lord in that as well. He was good the first day in Cork and he didn’t really act around that inside track at Punchestown the last day, but he was beaten less than four lengths by Salvator Mundi, so he’s not far off it as well."
There will not be a dry eye in the house if William Munny were to prevail in the colours of owner-trainer Barry Connell carried to victory by O’Sullivan and Marine Nationale two years ago.
This seven-year-old had to settle for second best behind Workahead at Leopardstown and then Kawaboomga at Fairyhouse, but made it third time lucky over timber in fine style at Punchestown last month.
Connell commented: "It wasn’t much of a race, but he won easily last time and it might be luck that we didn’t win the first two times over hurdles and we managed to get a third run into him – a lot of the horses who go for the Supreme are usually going on the back of two runs, so he has that added experience.
"Some of the time experts were talking to me after he finished second to Kawaboomga at Fairyhouse and they were saying the sectionals were really good and the times from that race from the first two would have been good enough to win eight out of the last 10 Supremes.
"That was him doing things completely upside down and you can imagine in Cheltenham and in a Grade One Supreme, they are going to go a reasonable gallop and I think it will suit him. I think he has the ability to be right there at the last and in contention – and after that, the best horse will win."
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