Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival Horses

Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival Horses: Could Ballyburn win the Champion Hurdle? Is Mighty Park the real deal? We dig into Mullins' fascinating Cheltenham Festival squad for 2026.

If you're a casual racing fan who only really tunes in for Cheltenham, there's one name you need to know before the festival rolls around: Willie Mullins.

The Irish trainer has 113 Cheltenham Festival winners to his name, which is the kind of number that stops making sense after a while. And if his recent stable tour is anything to go by, he's got every intention of adding plenty more to that tally.

So who should you be keeping an eye on? Let's break it down.

Of all Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival horses, this is the one everyone's talking about

Mighty Park is a horse that Mullins himself has compared to Faugheen — one of the greatest hurdlers of the modern era — which, coming from a man who rarely deals in hyperbole, is pretty significant.

The horse won a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse last month and apparently made it look embarrassingly easy. His mum, Knotted Midge, already produced Might Bite, who won the RSA Chase at Cheltenham in one of the most dramatic finishes you'll ever see, almost stopping dead on the run-in before pulling it out of the bag.

If Mighty Park is half as exciting, we're in for a treat.

The big debate: can Ballyburn win the Champion Hurdle?

Here's where it gets a little nerdy, but stick with us. Ballyburn is one of the most talked-about horses heading into the festival, but of all Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival horses, Mullins himself has raised an eyebrow about whether the horse has the pace for the Champion Hurdle, the showpiece two-mile contest.

His breeding — basically his family tree — suggests he's built for slogging it out over longer distances and bigger fences rather than a speed-fest over hurdles.

That said, racing has a wonderful habit of making experts look silly, and there's an argument that if the race turns into a proper grind with heavy ground and a slow pace, Ballyburn's stamina could actually be exactly what you want. If you fancy a punt, he's certainly not one to dismiss out of hand.

The French invasion

A chunk of Mullins' squad comes from France, and two names worth noting are Love Sign D'Aunou and Charme De Faust, both by a stallion called Goliath Du Berlais who is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting young sires in jump racing.

Love Sign D'Aunou won his debut bumper by 24 lengths — yes, 24 — and Mullins said he "hammered them" rather than just beat them. That's the kind of quote that tends to make bookmakers quietly shorten a price.

Deaville Racecourse In France

Don't sleep on the Irish-breds

For all the French glamour, some good old-fashioned Irish-bred horses are flying the flag too. Bentraghhill won a Christmas bumper at Leopardstown and Mullins called him "a fair machine," which in understatement terms from an Irish trainer is basically the equivalent of shouting from the rooftops.

He was bought for €150,000 after finishing third in a point-to-point, and that already looks like a bargain.

And if you want a perfect illustration of just how deep Irish National Hunt breeding runs, look no further than the remarkable Portryan Native family out of the Murphy family's Ashroe Stud in County Limerick.

The clan has been on an extraordinary roll lately, with a string of winners tumbling out in quick succession. Broadway Ted — one of the most exciting bumper prospects around, trained by Gordon Elliott — is unbeaten in two starts and comes from this very line. So does Nan's Choice, who bolted up by five lengths at Gowran Park just last weekend.

Then there's Call Me Legend, She's A Fine Wine, There Runs Mary, Minella Supreme, Caoimhe, I C U In My Dreams and Girlfromtheglen — all winners this season, all tracing back to the same foundation mare.

It's the kind of family form that makes breeders go weak at the knees. Portryan Native was bought for a fairly modest 14,000gns back in 2000 and turned out to be one of the shrewdest purchases in Irish breeding history.

Her daughters have been just as productive as she was, and the conveyor belt of winners from this family shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. For Mullins and the broader Irish racing scene, it's a reminder that you don't always need to look to France for your next star — sometimes the gold is right there at home.

Willie Mullins Eyes Cheltenham Festival Success

One sire to rule them all

Finally, if you want a fun little angle to follow throughout the festival, keep an eye on how many Mullins winners are by a French stallion called Doctor Dino.

He has four horses with strong festival chances from the Mullins yard alone, including Doctor Steinberg, who is fancied for the Albert Bartlett, and Narciso Has, who is favourite for the Triumph Hurdle. Mullins has trained seven of Doctor Dino's 13 Grade 1 winners, which is a remarkable stat. The pair are basically the jump racing equivalent of a dream team.

Cheltenham is still a little way off, but if this stable tour is anything to go by, Mullins is going to be absolutely everywhere come March - as usual.