*Paddy Power is now Non Runner Money Back for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. That means that if your selection does not line up in the race you back it in for any reason – you will now get your stake back. TC’s apply.
*Paddy also has the more traditional ante-post market where you will lose your stake if your selection doesn’t run in the race for whatever reason.
Paddy Power Media’s ‘From The Horse’s Mouth’ podcast ‘Cheltenham Countdown’ is back as host Tom Nugent picks the brains of the leading amateur jockey Patrick Mullins and well-known journalist and broadcaster Rory Delargy for their best Cheltenham betting tips.
In the sixth episode of this year’s series, the gang have looked at the Champion Bumper ahead of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
PATRICK MULLINS
There wasn’t a whole lot to our bumper team before Christmas bar Green Splendour. I was hoping he might step forward but he got well beaten at the Dublin Racing Festival (DRF).
But Bambino Fever put her hand up quite strongly at the DRF as well and then, obviously, we’ve had three in the last few weeks between Gameofinches, Kaiser Ball and Copacabana.
They are three very different horses. Copacabana, is by Blue Bresil, a store horse so he’d been in the yard all winter. Big and backward, when I first rode him work I thought ‘this is going to be a long haul with this fella’, but every week he got a bit sharper, he’s very laid back, he only does exactly what you ask him, when you ask him to the degree you ask him.
So we went to Navan with him because we wanted a galloping track – not like a Punchestown – where you’re turning and you have to pick up and go. Navan has a three-furlong straight and you can see all the way down it. I gave him a slap on the shoulder, he’s coming on it and I’m able to sit and sit and once I’ve gone for him and hit him one or two behind the saddle, he’s flown.
That looked a bumper with a lot of depth to it.
So I was very taken with that performance.
He’s quite similar to maybe Appreciate It, he’s a bigger, stronger horse, than the likes of Jasmin De Vaux who won the Champion Bumper last year.
Gameofinches is different – he obviously won a point to point in November, so he’s been in the yard less time. I prefer having horses in the yard for the whole season rather than halfway through the season.
I’m not sure we’ve had a Champion Bumper winner who’s kind of came to us in November, December time. He didn’t look well for a long time – we like to give our horses as much time as we can when they come in.
It’s like a kid going from a small school to a big school, our yard is 200 horses and they’re usually coming from yards with 20,40 or 50 horses. I do think this fella could look better but he’s easy in everything, he was working great, he was healthy.
We ran him and it’s obviously quite close to the Cheltenham bumper, that’s why I didn’t give him a squeeze and I would have liked to have given him a squeeze to see what was there, but I’ve given him a squeeze at home and he picks up and he shows a turn of foot.
What did he beat – look Gavin’s horse (Begorra Man) was fifth in a maiden hurdle. It’s easy enough to run well in a maiden hurdle to finish fourth or fifth, it’s a bit different if you’re going to try and win a bumper.
The third and fourth horses were quite close, their form wouldn’t be anything to set you on fire. So what he achieved is hard to know, but the way he achieved it was obviously very eye-catching.
The preparation isn’t ideal for Gameofinches in my book but he’s come out of his race real well and he obviously has huge, huge ability, but you would have preferred to have run a couple of weeks beforehand.
And then Kaiser Ball, Tom Costello gave him a fantastic ride. He’s not an easy horse to ride now. Tom obviously rides him out at home all the time, but he’s quite keen and you can see how Tom dropped him right in, got him settled.
It was an unusual bumper in that we went a really strong gallop, the time was significantly faster than the two maiden hurdles on the day. I’ve jumped off handy, but I’ve ended up dropping 10 or 15 lengths back, but perhaps Arslan was too involved over the first two or three furlongs.
The winner and the second both came from last and second last. I think that was a really good run – we liked Arslan, now he is a Wootton Bassett out of an American Group 1 winner so maybe tacky ground over two miles isn’t his thing.
But the second horse (Eachtotheirown) had a good run in Navan and Kaiser Ball blew them away. He has a fantastic pedigree, his sire is closely related to Nickname and No Risk At All so I don’t know whether he will go to Cheltenham – we’ll have to see what the Costellos want to do.
Again, it’s quite close for a horse having their debut – you wouldn’t dream of doing it. We like to give them four weeks after their debut to their second run so whether you roll the dice or not, I don’t know.
Champion Bumper verdict
I’m not going to make my decision until the horses have travelled over and everything, but what I do think, and not for a bet today, is I’m probably going to end up on either Gameofinches or Copacabana and Paul Townend will probably end up on the other one.
Bambino Fever is going to be completely overlooked, probably because of jockey bookings. I think her performance at the DRF was very, very good. She won at Punchestown and Leopardstown and ran away twice, mares have a decent record in the Cheltenham bumper.
I think on the day she’ll be a silly price and she’s the one I’d be backing each-way.
*Paddy Power is now Non Runner Money Back for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. That means that if your selection does not line up in the race you back it in for any reason – you will now get your stake back. TC’s apply.
*Paddy also has the more traditional ante-post market where you will lose your stake if your selection doesn’t run in the race for whatever reason.
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