Four Willie Mullins stars who can take high order when back from injury

Willie Mullins stole the show once again at the Cheltenham Festival last week with ten winners and is considering a tilt at a first British trainers’ championship. His strength in depth is remarkable, but what about his horses who have had their campaigns curtailed? Here we look at four that fall into that category and should be competing at the top level next season . . .

Ferny Hollow

This Cheveley Park Stud-owned seven-year-old was hot favourite for the Arkle before a suspensory ligament injury ruled him out for the rest of the season in January.

The 2020 Champion Bumper winner remains the only horse to have beaten Bob Olinger in a Gowran Park maiden hurdle later that year and his perfect start over fences suggested he was going to be a top notch chaser.

An easy chase debut win at Punchestown was followed by a top-level success in the Racing Post Novice Chase at Leopardstown on December 26. He recorded a Racing Post Rating of 168 that day – 3lb higher than Edwardstone’s 165 in the Arkle – and is 8-1 third favourite for next year’s Champion Chase.

Jungle Boogie

This unbeaten eight-year-old is clearly fragile given his unbeaten record extends to just three races – as admitted by owner Malcolm Denmark this week – but there is no doubt he has a massive engine.

Jungle Boogie made a sparkling return when routing subsequent Leinster National scorer Diol Ker by 12 lengths on his chasing debut at Fairyhouse on January 1, but a tiny stress fracture has since kept him on the sidelines.

Jungle Boogie: unbeaten in three startsCredit: Patrick McCann

Should he be able to make it back to the track next season, it remains the case he could still be anything.

Denmark said: "He’s a real talent and the opposite to The Nice Guy [Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle winner]. We’ve been able to see some of his ability on the racecourse and plenty of it at Willie’s. He’s a big animal – in the trade we call him a unit – and it’s made him extremely fragile. Every time we have an expectation, unfortunately he gets an injury and each time it’s fairly minor.

"Hopefully he will be back next season – he’s got no experience and is no longer a novice but has lots of talent."

Monkfish

Two-time Cheltenham Festival winner Monkfish had been vying for Gold Cup favouritism when ruled out for the campaign with a tendon injury in September.

Monkfish had racked up a sequence of seven wins, with four top-level victories including the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle and the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, before a first defeat since November 2019 when second to former stablemate Colreevy in a Grade 1 novice chase at Punchestown on his last start in April.

The ultra-talented eight-year-old, owned by Susannah Ricci, is a 16-1 chance to win next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Sharjah

Big-race regular Sharjah was denied a fourth crack at the Champion Hurdle, in which he finished second in the previous two runnings, after suffering a hip injury early this year.

Sharjah, also owned by Ricci, had been 7-1 third favourite for the Champion Hurdle at the time after a second Morgiana Hurdle win at Punchestown and fourth straight victory in the Matheson Hurdle at Leopardstown.

Sharjah: won the last four runnings of the Matheson HurdleCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

There is a chance he could be back for the Punchestown Festival next month, but a record-breaking fifth Matheson Hurdle win – a race also landed four times by Istabraq and Hurricane Fly – is a likely main target for next season.

Read more . . .

'It's there to play for' – Mullins considering a tilt at British trainers' title

'Seven-plus out of ten' – Willie Mullins reflects on another stunning festival

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