FESTIVAL PREVIEW:IT'S D-DAY for the all-powerful Willie Mullins team at Cheltenham this afternoon, where Ireland's champion trainer will fancy his chances in three Grade One events, including his favourite race, the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, where he has a massively strong team of eight runners.

Considering Mullins is the undoubted king of this contest, with a remarkable haul of six victories, opposing his strongest ever bumper team could appear to be struggling against the inevitable.

That sense became even stronger after Sicilian Secret’s last serious piece of work at Leopardstown less than two weeks ago, when Patrick Mullins’ mount sluiced away from some of today’s other runners.

Visually it was impressive, and, considering Mullins Jnr was conceding a lot of weight to the likes of Ruby Walsh and Paul Townend, it’s little wonder punters have latched onto Sicilian Secret in a big way.

The market is not a fail-safe way of establishing the Mullins pecking order in this race though, as Joe Cullen’s 14 to 1 victory in 2000 indicates. Cousin Vinny was hardly the stable number one last year when he scored at 9 to 1, with Ruby Walsh’s Apt Approach only sixth.

“They are all as good if not better than each of my previous winners and I find it really hard to split them,” said the trainer yesterday.

This time Walsh is on Quel Esprit, a fine-looking horse with the stamp of a chaser all over him, but whose bumper success came at two-and-a-half miles on soft ground. Compared to Sicilian Secret, he may not have the gears to cope with this event which can turn rough at critical stages.

There is something eye-catching about the combination of Dermot Weld, Pat Smullen and Rite Of Passage. Weld has been one of the few trainers to put it up to Mullins in bumpers at home this season, and Rite Of Passage put a 2 to 5 Mullins hotpot, Quadrillon, firmly in his place at Naas last month. It was not an unexpected success either, and Weld hasn’t hesitated to put up Ireland’s champion flat jockey, with Robbie McNamara on his other runner, Lead The Parade.

It is 19 years since Weld’s sole Cheltenham festival victory, Rare Holiday in the Triumph Hurdle. Rite Of Passage can bridge the gap.

If ground conditions turn genuinely testing today, then it could be a case of just lumping on Mikael d’Haguenet in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle. Another ex-French star in the Mullins team, he has been awesomely impressive in Ireland during the winter.

But there’s not much rain in prospect and Mullins has consistently expressed concerns about Mikael’s high knee action coming down the hill. Yesterday he added: “It’s just safe enough for him, but I would certainly prefer softer.”

In the circumstances he could be best left alone, and the same comment applies to the main British hope, Diamond Harry, who keeps winning but whose tendency to hang with an awkward head carriage doesn’t encourage confidence when things get tough.

Karabak has been well supported in recent weeks on the back of JP McManus purchasing him, but he was beaten by Mad Max on the latter’s hurdling debut at Newbury and it could be worth betting that those places are confirmed.

Mad Max hasn’t been seen since winning at Ascot after which there were reports of a wind operation. He is a huge horse but hasn’t looked short of speed and he has the potential to be anything.

In contrast, Cooldine possesses an attractive mixture of guts and class that fits the bill for the RSA Chase. Walsh has chosen Cooldine over What A Friend, and although the Irish horse has made mistakes in the past, Walsh is relatively unconcerned about his jumping. Cooldine has been crying out for a stamina test over three miles and better going should not be a problem.

Alexander Severus could turn out to be an old-fashioned Irish gamble in the Fred Winter. But he is another whose head-carriage suggests tackling the final hill here may become an issue. Miss Sarenne fell at the last when set to score at Plumpton recently and she looks a reasonable alternative.

Instead, Irish hopes could pay off in the National Hunt Chase with Noel Meade’s Grade Two winner Parsons Pistol, who should relish this stamina test.