Irish Grand National key to Mullins’s pursuit of new prizemoney record

he Cheltenham festival winner Gaillard Du Mesnil is set to lead Willie Mullins’s team into Easter Monday’s €500,000 Boylesports Irish Grand National, a race that could prove key to the champion trainer’s chances of breaking his own prizemoney record.

Mullins, who reached 4,000 career winners at Fairyhouse in January, is all but sure to break his own record for winners in an Irish National Hunt campaign when the season ends at Punchestown later this month.

Currently on 201 victories, he is within hailing distance of his 2018 record of 212 winners in a season.

However, the trainers’ championship is decided by prizemoney and, although assured of a 17th title, Mullins faces a stiff task in trying to better his record 2019 haul of over €6.2 million in Ireland.

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Facing into this weekend’s lucrative Easter festival action at Fairyhouse, he is on just over €4.5 million for the season to date.

Having secured almost €1.4 million at Punchestown a year ago, a bumper Easter at Fairyhouse, where there is a first prize of €275,000 for the National, could yet tee Mullins up for another benchmark at the end of this month.

“There’s still some time to go but I would imagine we’ll have a good few runners in the National and Carefully Selected and Gaillard Du Mesnil will go there,” Mullins said on Tuesday.

“I was pleasantly surprised to be told about the total of winners recently but for me it’s more of a day-to-day thing – hopefully they just keep coming!” he added.

Gaillard Du Mesnil is among the market leaders at a general 12-1 after his dramatic late thrust to win Cheltenham’s National Hunt Chase last month.

They grey was third to Lord Lariat in last year’s National, a race that had proved elusive to Mullins until finally winning in 2019 with Burrows Saint.

He has eight of the 15 entries left in Easter Sunday’s featured €100,000 Willow Warm Gold Cup, still referred to by some under one of its old titles, the Powers Gold Cup.

They include the Arkle winner El Fabiolo although he appears far from certain to line up and Sir Gerhard could take in this contest on-route to Punchestown.

Sir Gerhard failed to fire when beating only one home in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham on just his second start over fences.

“Sir Gerhard is definitely in the mix. His lack of jumping experience told in Cheltenham and he probably could run here and go back to Punchestown because he does need experience,” Mullins said.

Also among the 15 left in at Tuesday’s acceptance stage is Mighty Potter who proved a bitter disappointment at Cheltenham when third to Stage Star in the Turners.

Gordon Elliott’s star did however win the Drinmore over Fairyhouse’s course and distance in December.

Mullins has eight options for Sunday’s other Grade One EBF Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle named after the recently retired star who won the race in 2019.

Honeysuckle’s trainer Henry de Bromhead has left in a pair of hopefuls and there’s sure to be plenty popular support behind Magical Zoe.

She looked an unlucky loser at Cheltenham when runner-up to You Wear It Well in the novice hurdle named in memory of de Bromhead’s late son, Jack.

Another ‘Zoe’ in the frame to run is the Group One winner Princess Zoe who ran fifth on just her second start over flights in the same Cheltenham contest.

In other ‘National’ news, the Charles Byrnes-trained Temptationinmilan has been installed an 8-1 second favourite by the sponsors for the Scottish Grand National in Ayr in just over two weeks’ time.

Last year’s runner up Kitty’s Light is a 4-1 favourite to go one better.