Willie Mullins has saddled the first winner at Cheltenham’s Festival meeting three years running and has an obvious favourite to extend his streak in three months’ time after the four-year-old Min made an impressive start to his career for the stable at Punchestown on Thursday afternoon.
Min failed to win in two outings in France last season, but had shown enough on the gallops since joining Mullins in the summer to move to the top of the betting for the Supreme Novice Hurdle on 14 March without jumping another hurdle in public.
He was sent off at 4-11 in a field of 21 runners for the Festival Hospitality On Sale Maiden Hurdle and outclassed his opponents from an early stage, eventually coming home 14 lengths clear of the runner-up Gurteen after pulling his way to the front with a circuit still to run.
Min’s hurdling was impressively quick and confident throughout, and he is now no bigger than 7‑1 for the Supreme Novice Hurdle, a race Mullins has won five times in all.
The Mullins stable’s dominance of the Supreme Novice Hurdle in recent seasons is unprecedented since the mid-50s, when the race was known as the Gloucestershire Hurdle and often run in two or even three divisions. Vincent O’Brien took eight divisions in five years between 1955‑59, and 10 in all between 1952‑59.
Min competes in the same pink and green colours of Rich Ricci as Champagne Fever, Vautour and Douvan, the Supreme Novice Hurdle winners in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively, and like Douvan he was sired by Walk In The Park, the runner-up behind Motivator in the 2005 Derby. His path towards the Festival could also mirror that of Douvan, as he is likely to bypass the Grade One Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting to run instead in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle back at Punchestown in mid-January.
“The rumours are true,” Mullins said after Thursday’s victory. “That was two-and-a-quarter miles and he could easily go back to two miles, and I would have no fear of going two-and-a-half.
“He looks to have plenty of gears as I thought they were going a good gallop and yet he took off around halfway. He jumped very well for a horse having his first run on an Irish racecourse and we will plan for something in the new year. The first race that comes to mind is the race Vautour and Douvan won here next month.”
Min was not the only novice hurdler to make an impression on Thursday as Born Survivor, who was bought for £220,000 to join the Dan Skelton stable after winning a point-to-point in Ireland, justified a starting price of 5-6 to win a maiden hurdle at Warwick.
Born Survivor moved easily throughout and needed only to be pushed out by Harry Skelton to win by two lengths.
“When they cost as much as he did everyone is watching and he probably had to win, otherwise he was going to fall foul of being a disappointing horse,” Skelton said.
“I was really impressed with how he picked up and he jumped exceptionally well for a four-year-old. We’ll come back here on 16 January for the [Grade Two] Leamington Spa, which we won last year with Three Musketeers. He’s different to him as [Three Musketeers] had to have his hand held every step of the way, whereas this one is much more mentally forward, which will allow us to take stronger routes with him.”
