Why Willie Mullins won't make his mind up until festival declaration time

Willie Mullins very rarely does Cheltenham preview evenings but I sat on one with him back in 2008. It was a few days before the declarations came out for the festival and he was pretty sure he was going to run Fiveforthree in the Supreme. He told the gathered flock as much.

As it turned out, Fiveforthree ran in – and won – the Ballymore, which just goes to show that the decisions about where all his horses are going to run are always left to the last minute.

The trainer might have an idea where he thinks a horse will be best suited at this stage but Fiveforthree and the Vautour incident in 2016 are proof that everything is still up in the air as to where his horses are going to run. Consequently, no-one should be surprised if there are some late switches.