The Champion Bumper is regarded as one of the big gambling races of the Festival. Typical for a good Irish gamble, and on most cases landed. Some classy horses have won this in the past.

Willie Mullins has a fantastic record in this race, and always primes a decent string for the event. Anything he sends over for this race is worth checking out before placing a bet on the event.

Year Winner Jockey Trainer Age
2007 Cork All Star Barry Geraghty Jessica Harrington 5yo
2006 Hairy Molly Paul Carberry Joseph Crowley 6yo
2005 Missed That Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 6yo
2004 Total Enjoyment Jim Culloty Tommy Cooper 5yo
2003 Liberman Tony McCoy Martin Pipe 5yo
2002 Pizarro Jamie Spencer Edward O’Grady 5yo
2000 Joe Cullen Charlie Swan Willie Mullins 5yo
1999 Monsignor Brendan Powell Mark Pitman 5yo
1998 Alexander Banquet Ruby Walsh Willie Mullins 5yo

Key Trends:
* Willie Mullins has saddled 5 out of the last 12 winners of the race (41.67%)
* 12 of the last 15 winners of the race were Irish Trained (80%)
* 7 of the last 9 winners of the race were five-year-olds (77.77%)
* 13 of the last 15 winners had all won their previous race (86.67%)

Now that’s the stats looked at, and basically we’d do a lot worse than to look for a Willie Mullins trained five-year-old.

A good few words floating round for this Zaarito and has been well backed to do the business, however I cant have Colm Murphy’s horse, and think it’s best to look elsewhere.

My Shortlist:

APT APPROACH 5-y-o b g
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Criteria: ****
Well regarded sort of Willie Mullins who created a favourable impression when landing a bumper at Gowran Park on his first start. He cleared away in good fashion and from what I could see, possessed a decent turn of foot to boot. The cat looks already out of the bag in terms to his price for the race but it must be noted he did drift in the betting for his debut run, and in such an open affair, I think it’s better looking for a value price for a small bet.

COUSIN VINNY 5-y-o b g
Trainer: Willie Mullins
Criteria: ****
A horse which really impressed me when showing an explosive turn of foot when his chances looked slim of making a winning debut. Held up off a slow pace, he slowly got into contention and despite running very green when asked to pick up, eventually got the hang of things and rocketed home. At the current prices he looks my most likely selection, with the expected improvement and that turn of foot really could do the business up that Cheltenham hill.

THE OLD PRETENDER 5-y-o b g
Trainer: Carl Llewellyn
Criteria: *
Really impressed me when making a winning debut at Huntingdon when stringing out a weak field. Found wanting last time behind the Nicky Henderson trained Mad Max (Reportedly 10L better than Gold Award at home), but I’d be looking to give this nice strapping horse another chance as he’s surely better than what we saw at Newbury last time.

BIG EARED FRAN 5-y-o b g
Trainer: David Pipe
Criteria: *
Formerly trained by Tor Sturgis who’s said in the press this is the best horse she’s trained, and was quickly snapped up by Thomas Barr and moved to David Pipe after making an impressive winning debut at Sandown in November. The Pipe’s know how to ready one for this race having won this with Liberman in 2003, and should be watched for market support.

The Duke’s Selection:
Cousin Vinny
Each-way @ 16/1

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