Gaelic Warrior has been one of the most exciting novice chasers this season and confirmed that promise when winning the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival.
He put to bed memories of a disappointing loss to Fact To File at the Dublin Racing Festival and opened up a number of options for himself going forward.
He has only suffered three defeats since joining Willie Mullins in 2021 and in the hands of the top trainer, the world looks to be his oyster.
Gaelic Warrior runs in the famous pink and green silks of Mrs Susannah Ricci. On the racecourse, the face of that ownership is her husband, Rich Ricci, easily one of the most well-known and likeable owners in National Hunt racing.
The American is a former investment banker and remains in the world of finance. He was formally a co-chief executive of Barclays' investment banking arm and collected a £44m payout when he left Barclays back in 2013, while he's said to be worth in excess of £100m.
The likes of Douvan, Annie Power, Vroum Vroum Mag, Faugheen and Vautour have left an indelible print on jumps racing in his colours. Ricci also owns Lossiemouth, who won the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
Most of Ricci's horses are housed at Willie Mullins' base in Closutton, Co Carlow and amongst them is Gaelic Warrior.
Mullins has become jumps racing's superpower and passed the 100-winner mark at this year’s Cheltenham, racking up nine winners at this year’s festival.
His first Cheltenham Festival winner came in 1995 when Tourist Attraction won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle. Certain races have been dominated by Ireland's perennial champion trainer, who has won 13 Champion Bumpers and ten Mares' Hurdles already.
Of course, the Championship races are the ones he covets most. For a long time the Gold Cup proved elusive but Al Boum Photo finally sated that thirst in 2019 and he won it again a year later. Galopin Des Champs also became a back-to-back winner of the race this year as Mullins recorded his fourth success in the Blue Riband.
Mullins also has five Champion Hurdles, two Queen Mother Champion Chases and two Stayers' Hurdles in a ridiculously impressive CV that includes almost every Grade 1 race in Britain or Ireland on multiple occasions.
Gaelic Warrior has just ran in his third Cheltenham Festival and is still just a six-year-old.
Gaelic Warrior achieved an official rating over hurdles of 153 following nine starts and four wins in that sphere. His peak Racing Post Rating over hurdles came at Punchestown in April 2023 when he won the three-mile Grade 1 novice hurdle.
The horse received an official rating of 157 for his win in the Arkle but he received a Racing Post Rating of 170 for the same performance.
Though winless in three French starts at Auteuil, connections felt Gaelic Warrior could be nicely handicapped on his first start for Mullins and Ricci in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2022. He ran well but jumped to his right and was beaten a short-head by Brazil at the line.
He won 4-5 in his second season for Mullins, including a Dublin Racing Festival handicap off a mark of 143 and then a Punchestown Grade 1, but was only second behind stablemate Impaire Et Passe in the 2m5f Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
He easily won his first two over fences, including the Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick, after which rider Patrick Mullins lambasted cousin Danny Mullins for trying to go up his inside on subsequent Irish Arkle winner Il Etait Temps.
At the Dublin Racing Festival, Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File were the only two starters for the Grade 1 novice chase over 2m5½f but it was the latter that did the business, as Gaelic Warrior and Paul Townend parted company when beaten at the last.
Gaelic Warrior bounced back and put to bed any concerns about his ability to go right handed with a flawless win in this year’s Arkle, in which he was straightforward and dominant, finishing well clear of Found A Fifty and Il Etait Temps to win at a starting price of 2/1.
Gaelic Warrior has landed just shy of £370,000 in prize money for his connections.
Mullins has left his options open for Gaelic Warrior following his win in the Arkle, stating that he could be aimed at the Ryanair, the Champion Chase or more of a stamina test considering that he won over three miles as a novice hurdler.
The Mullins inmate has been well supported for the King George on Boxing Day, he is now a 6/1 chance for that race.
For next year’s Cheltenham Festival, he is 4/1 for the Champion Chase, 6/1 for the Raynair and a 25/1 outsider for the Gold Cup.
At the Cheltenham Festival in 2024 there were many doubters for Gaelic Warrior to silence. He was prone to jumping alarmingly to his right and had run a listless in his final prep at the Dublin Racing Festival.
In the Cotswolds, he put it all to rights, jumping gun-barrel straight under Paul Townend and blasting his Arkle rivals to one side with a powerful performance. He now looks sure to be one of the Mullins stars for the next few years.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.