How many times has Willie Mullins won the Morgiana Hurdle?
To anyone with even a passing interest in National Hunt racing and, in particular, the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins needs little or no introduction. Originally from Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny, but based at Closutton, near Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow, Mullins first took out a training licence, in his own right, in 1988 and has long since become a force majeure in his native land and beyond.
He has been perennial Irish National Hunt Champion Trainer since 2008/09 and, on the other side of the Irish Sea, is comfortably the most successful trainer in the history of the Cheltenham Festival,94 winners to his name, the most recent being Galopin Des Champs in the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup.Indeed, Mullins has won the Cheltenham Festival Leading Trainer Award 10 times, including the last five years in a row and, in 2022, saddled 10 winners, thereby setting a new record for the number of winners at a single Festival.
As a professional gambler, or even just someone a bit more involved than the average punter, it helps to keep track of trainers form both in general and for specific events or races. There are many factors involved in picking a horse. In fact in any sport before placing a bet with a bookmaker or a bet broker, it pays to do a deep dive into form, strategy, whether a bet offers good value and so on. For the pros or those looking to bet big, betting brokers may be the way to go as a , better odds, more anonymity and a wider range of bookies and exchanges become available to you.
Nowadays, of course, the Morgiana Hurdle is a Grade 1 contest, run over 2 miles and 100 yards at Punchestown in December, but, in terms of class and distance, it has not always been that way. Indeed, at the time Mullins saddled his first winner, Padashpan, in 1993, the race was still only a Listed contest, run over 2 miles and 2 furlongs, having been shortened from its original distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs the previous season.
Nevertheless, the Morgiana Hurdle was promoted to Grade 2 level in 1994 and, again, to Grade 1 level in 2006. Mullins did not saddle his second winner, Thousand Stars, until 2011, but in the last decade or so it would be fair to say that he has farmed what is the inaugural Grade 1 hurdle of the season. His subequent winners were Hurricane Fly (2012, 2013, 2014), Nichols Canyon (2015, 2016), Faugheen (2017), Sharjah (2018, 2021), Saldier (2019) and State Man (2022, 2023) for a total of 13 in all.