Festival Focus - Champion Bumper

Big Willie Style - I'm hoping Mullins can win the Bumper again with Clondaw Court

The Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival can often be more of a minefield than some of the notoriously tricky-to-solve handicap races.

One stat that can always guide you though is that Willie Mullins usually has a very strong hand for the race – as evidenced by Champagne Fever’s victory in the race last year – and this year is no exception with several of the leading contenders at this stage looking likely to come from the Mullins yard.

The form of last year’s race is already working out very well this season with several of the horses from last year’s Bumper coming out and performing to a very high level this year, notably Jezki and The New One; so it is always a race to take note of for the following season’s novice hurdlers.

This year’s renewal also looks to feature a crop of horses that could potentially go on to achieve great things, but at this stage, knowing so little about many of them, it’s hard to know which will make it and which will sink without a trace.