Gaelic Warrior one of the star names Mullins has lined up for John Durkan duty

Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Gaelic Warrior is set to lead a Willie Mullins battalion in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase on Sunday week.

The eight-year-old was a brilliant winner of the blue riband at Prestbury Park in March and followed up with a 26-length defeat of stablemate Fact To File in the Punchestown Gold Cup.

He is set to return to County Kildare for the two-and-a-half-mile Grade One on Punchestown’s ‘Premiere Weekend’ and will be joined by several other Closutton representatives.

“Gaelic Warrior will start off in the John Durkan and then run at Christmas. He went to Kempton last year for the King George and I don’t know if I want to go back as the ground was much firmer than I wanted,” said Mullins.

“I’ll probably keep him to Leopardstown all being well. That’s my thought at this point in time, but we’ll see how things work out.

“He disappointed me in Kempton, but as the season went on I was very happy with him. He probably did surprise me with the ease with which he won in Cheltenham.”

Mullins feels it is Gaelic Warrior’s potent blend of speed and stamina that makes him something special, adding: “He’s obviously got lots of reserves of stamina and a little bit of speed.

“All the old guys will tell you a good Gold Cup winner would win a Champion Chase and he’s probably one of those horses.”

Other Mullins candidates for the John Durkan include Fact To File, Final Demand, two Grand National winners in I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett, Grade One-winning novice Kaid d’Authie and Kitzbuhel, who in Gaelic Warrior’s absence could carry the team’s hopes in the King George having impressed in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over the course and distance last Christmas.

“I’m going to have so many horses thankfully for the John Durkan, he (Kitzbuhel) will start off there and it will put him right for Kempton,” the champion trainer continued.

“I would look at going back (to Kempton) for the King George for him, and then on to the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham and Punchestown,.

“He looks a horse who really was at home in Kempton last year, so I’m looking forward to getting him over there.”

Fact To File beat Gaelic Warrior in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown last season, but he is set to be trained towards the Ryanair Chase he won so brilliantly in 2025 rather than the big one.

“John Durkan, Christmas, Dublin Racing Festival and the Ryanair looks the obvious thing for him,” said Mullins.

“One would wonder whether he stays the distance of the Gold Cup, he might this year with a bit of age. But he was so good around Cheltenham in the Ryanair Chase and it will take a fair bit to move him off that target.”

Mullins also has several big guns in the two-mile division over fences, headed by the reigning Champion Chase winner Il Etait Temps.

Having missed his planned comeback in last week’s Clonmel Oil Chase due to unsuitable ground, he will go into his defence of the Tingle Creek at Sandown without the aid of a prep run.

Mullins said: “It was disappointing we didn’t get a run in Clonmel. He will go straight to the Tingle Creek now, so we have to hope that we can get enough work into him and he won’t be too fresh going to Sandown.

“He loves the track over there, so I think we have go there.”

The potential challengers for Il Etait Temps’ crown include Kopek Des Bordes, who suffered a short-priced defeat to Irish Panther in a Grade Three at Naas last weekend.

“Kopek was probably a little disappointing, but when I looked at him before the race he looked a bit big in himself,” Mullins added.

“He would look to be Champion Chase material, I think. That’s the route he’ll go down so he will probably run at Christmas, unless we run somewhere in the meantime and skip Christmas and go to the Dublin Racing Festival.

“He will improve hugely for his run the other day. You think you have horses right at home and then you see them in the parade ring with their number cloth on and see how big they are. I think there’s a lot of improvement in him.”

Majborough could reappear in the Fortria Chase at Navan on Saturday, but Mullins admitted to having concerns about the ground, while the top dog in the crack team of novice chasers appears to be King Rasko Grey, who also holds a couple of weekend entries.

“He’s a horse I’m really looking forward to this season – he might be a proper chaser,” said Mullins.

“This time last year if you’d asked where is he going to go over fences I would have said the Arkle, but he ends up winning the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, which would suggest he’s a Brown Advisory horse this year.

“I have a few people saying he should go back to the Champion Hurdle, but I want to go over fences with him. He does very good work at home for us and I think he’s a fair sort.”

Narciso Has is another horse expected to take high rank over fences this term, as is recent Naas winner Anzadam.

The lightly-raced He’s On Fire is also held in high esteem, with Mullins saying: “I love him and he’ll go down the Arkle route.”