13 Champion Bumper Entries From the Willie Mullins Stable

Half the Weatherbys Champion Bumper field come from the Irish as this is one of the races that they hog every year especially Willie Mullins. Willie is always the man to watch in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, having won six of the last dozen renewals including with Cousin Vinny who prevailed in the hands of the trainer’s son Patrick last year. This time around Mullins supplies an amazing 13 entries, including Quinola Des Obeaux and Sicilian Secret who are both prominent in the ante-post market. The other horse at the head of the betting for the Grade One event is Dungiub, trained in Ireland by Philip Fenton.

Only three horses trained in Britain have lifted the Weatherbys Champion Bumper since its inauguration in 1992, most recently in 2003. However, one horse trying to buck that trend is Vino Griego, trained by Gary Moore, who was an impressive six-length scorer at Ascot on St Valentine’s Day.

Moore commented: “We have entered Vino Griego in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper and he’s a definite runner in the race at the moment. I was delighted with his victory at Ascot and he seems to have come out of the race in good form.

“We will hopefully give him a run at The Festival and then take him over hurdles next season. He won on heavy ground last time out but we wouldn’t mind better ground – as long as it’s not too fast. “I know English trainers have got a poor record in the race but we’ve got to win it sometime and I think we are going into the race with a fighting chance.”

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