El Fabiolo's shock defeat in the Queen Mother Champion Chase was one of the shocks at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival and it will be interesting to see how he recovers going forward.
The Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old was yet to taste defeat over fences prior to his disappointing effort at Prestbury Park, but it will now be back to the drawing board for Willie Mullins and Co as they look to get their chasing star back on track.
El Fabiolo Owner
El Fabiolo is owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, who are known for their "Double Green" team.
Their runners are renowned for running in their all-green silks and they have enjoyed some big wins over the years since entering the sport.
The pair have won over £3million in prize money over the years and El Fabiolo has won his fair share of that during his career.
El Fabiolo Trainer
Legendary Irish trainer Willie Mullins is the trainer of El Fabiolo and his record at the Cheltenham Festival is the envy of the rest of the racing world.
He is the most successful trainer in the history of the Festival and recorded his 100th winner at the Cheltenham showpiece this year, with his tally now standing at 103.
El Fabiolo was originally trained in France before switching to Mullins' stable in November 2021 and he has since become one of his most successful charges.
El Fabiolo Age
El Fabiolo is seven years old and made his debut for Mullins in a maiden hurdle contest at Tramore in 2022.
El Fabiolo Official Rating
Mullins' charge started his career as a hurdler in 2022, and he was handed a mark of 150 over the smaller obstacles.
He only competed over hurdles three times before switching to fences, and his rating as a chaser is now 175.
El Fabiolo Weight
El Fabiolo last raced off a weight of 11st 12lbs, winning by over eight lengths at Leopardstown.
The seven-year-old has raced off a max weight of 12st, but the extra lbs mattered little as Paul Townend guided him home at Cork in December 2023.
El Fabiolo Next Race
Aintree will come too soon for El Fabiolo, meaning the Punchestown Festival, which begins on the 30th of April, will provide be the target for the son of Spanish Moon.
However, he will face a race against time to be fit for that Irish spectacle as Mullins has confirmed the injury the seven-year-old sustained at Cheltenham is still troubling him.
El Fabiolo has been sent for tests according to Mullins as he looks to find the specific issue and assess his charge's chances of a crack at glory at Punchestown.
El Fabiolo Record
Munir and Souede's runner has competed in 12 races under rules, winning eight while also finishing second and third once, before failing to complete the Queen Mother Champion Chase last time out.
El Fabiolo had won seven races in a row prior to his Prestbury Park disappointment, having never finished outside the top two for Mullins before pulling up at Cheltenham.
His crowning achievement so far came in the 2023 Arkle Novices' Chase at Cheltenham, beating Jonbon by an impressive 5-and-a-half lengths to take the crown and cement his place as the best two-mile chaser in the sphere.
El Fabiolo went on to win valuable races at Punchestown, Cork and Leopardstown to extend his victorious run to seven, leading to his 2/9 favouritism for the Queen Mother at the 2024 Festival.
Sadly things did not go right on the big day, as an uncharacteristically erratic jumping display and a mistake at the fifth fence forced Paul Townend to pull his charge up and accept defeat.
El Fabiolo Prize Money
El Fabiolo has won £419,738 in total since making his debut, and the majority of that has come as a chaser.
£377,756 of those winnings have come over fences, thanks to his continued success in Grade 1 races.
El Fabiolo News
Mullins stated after the Cheltenham defeat that "El Fabiolo got very low over a few of them, I know he was a little bit chancy before, but I was very concerned, and then he jumped the last one good, but of course then he went on to the next one and just stood back too far at it and didn't get high enough. Disappointing."
It was then revealed afterwards that he had suffered an injury and that tests were being carried out to see the extent of the issue, meaning Aintree is now all-but-confirmed to be off the agenda.
Mullins has been quoted as saying "He was sore after the race and he's still sore, so we're sending him for tests. He's still not right and we're going to send him for an MOT to see what's wrong. We'll find out what we need to do to get him back." Before continuing to state "I would say at this stage if we do manage to get him back this season, Punchestown would be a more realistic target for him rather than Aintree."
All of his trainer's quotes suggest Punchestown will be the venue for El Fabiolo's return, not Aintree, although that is not a certainty yet, as the tests must still be analysed.
Regardless whether we see the son of Spanish Moon this term or next, it would take a brave punter to bet against him on his next appearance.
El Fabiolo had won seven races in a row prior to his shock defeat and, given the erratic nature of his jumping that day, it seems safer to assume that it was a one-off rather than a sign of things to come.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.
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