'This will be more his cup of tea and he's in great form' - key quotes and analysis for the Guinness Handicap

The surname Mullins has been synonymous with glory in the feature Guinness Handicap in recent years, appearing on the roll of honour six times in the last eight years, and it is not just Wille either. His brother Tony famously won it with Princess Zoe in 2020, while nephew Emmet sent out Crowns Major to land the spoils in 2021.

The Mullins family seem to hold the key this year, too, as Emmet is double-handed with Monday's Connacht Hotel Handicap winner Teed Up and Aurora Princess, who was just touched off in a mares' handicap hurdle here on Wednesday.

Teed Up has a 7lb penalty to overcome, but he was probably value for more than the winning margin on Monday as Ray Barron kicked for home quite early and he was probably getting lonely in the closing stages.

This shorter trip should not pose a problem either as he was second to subsequent Chester Cup winner Metier in the November Handicap at Doncaster over 1m4f.

Stall 16 is wider than ideal given four of the last five winners have had single-figure draws, but Princess Zoe did get the job done from stall 14.

Uncle Willie's sole representative is the topweight Jackfinbar and what a fascinating contender he is. Not seen since the summer of 2019 when last of five behind Falcon Eight in a Listed race at Sandown on his final start for Harry Dunlop, he returned from a whopping 1,459-day absence with a fine effort when third to Espionage at Roscommon. He will surely be bang there if he doesn't bounce.

He is running off a mark of 103, but he was rated 107 once upon a time for Dunlop so maybe he does have a few pounds up his sleeve.

There has only been one winner of this handicap at a double-figure price in the last decade so it is probably best to stick to the obvious. Nessun Dorma was the exception in 2018, when he belted out a fine tune under Billy Lee.

Lee will be on board Spasiba for the prolific Paddy Twomey, who has sent out five winners and two seconds from his last 12 runners; a remarkable stat.

Spasiba is completely unexposed, making his handicap debut, and it is interesting Twomey has called for a visor.

Emmet Mullins goes again with his pair

Emmet Mullins has quickly established himself as one of the most accurate target trainers in the business.

He shot to fame with Noble Yeats in the 2022 Grand National, but we knew long before that he was going places fast.

Mullins has had his team primed for Galway this week, and heading into Thursday's Galway Hurdle his form figures for the festival were 12232.

Teed Up was his big winner in the Connacht Hotel Handicap, while Aurora Princess touched a low of 1.3 in running on Betfair before going down narrowly to A Law Of Her Own over hurdles on Wednesday. Both have been busy this week, but Mullins is happy to roll the dice again.

Mullins said: "They have both bounced out of their races during the week sound so I'm happy for them to take their chance. Hopefully they can run to form and be in the shake-up."

Emmet Mullins: enterprising trainer can continue his fine weekCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

What they say 

Joe Murphy, trainer of Sionnach Eile
He's in good form, he likes Galway and the more rain that falls, the happier he will be. He was very good when winning this race last year but, as we all know, two years are never the same when it comes to horses!

Michael Halford, joint-trainer of Chally Chute
He's a course winner and won't mind the ground either. I'm not too worried about dropping him back in trip after his win at Killarney and I think he'll cope with it. We're hoping for a big run.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Weston
He ran a big race in the Ascot Stakes. He wasn't beaten far in that and it was only his second start for us so hopefully there is more to come. It's a competitive race, but I'd like to think he has a decent chance on the back of that Ascot run.

Andy Slattery, trainer of Smooth Tom
You can put a line through his run at the Curragh as the ground was just too quick for him and he wouldn't let himself down on it. This will be more his cup of tea and he seems to be in great form heading into the race.

Paddy Twomey, trainer of Spasiba
He's a nice horse who we've always liked and hopefully he can run well.

Andrew McNamara, trainer of Laelaps
He's in good form and I think a track like Galway might help him to settle better. He ran well at the Curragh two starts ago so hopefully he can give a good account of himself.

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