Cheltenham 2026: Anyone for a Mullins switcheroo?

It's been an informative few weeks, and I'm ready to add to my antepost book ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, which is over a month away.

After the Dublin Racing Festival, I can see an infamous Willie Mullins switcheroo on the cards - and I'm keen to get ahead of it.

I'm kicking myself after the Dublin Racing Festival. Hard.

Ahead of the Irish Gold Cup, I was umming and ahing about tipping Gaelic Warrior for the Ryanair Chase at 8/1.

The article was half-written. 'Warrior to do a Vautour'. Willie Mullins and Rich Ricci's enigmatic eight-year-old was going to come up short at Leopardstown, with Galopin Des Champs completing the four-timer and Fact To File nowhere, and there'd be a change of plans. Betfred Insights readers in clover.

That's not quite what happened, but Gaelic Warrior is significantly shorter for the Ryanair after finishing runner-up in Dublin, so it was a massive opportunity missed.

However, with Betfred now Non-Runner No-Bet (NRNB) on all races at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival I sense a new opportunity.

Last year's Ryanair hero Fact To File bolted up on Monday and he'll surely be supplemented for the Gold Cup now. It was arguably the performance of the season and with the champ Inothewayurthinkin looking gone at the game, and trainer Gavin Cromwell suggesting he might not even try to defend his crown, owner JP McManus is left with little for the Cheltenham Festival's blue-riband event.

If that happens, I would be very surprised if Gaelic Warrior isn't then diverted to the Ryanair. Would Mullins be happy sending Fact To File, Galopin Des Champs and Gaelic Warrior to the race and leaving such a winnable Grade 1 free? I think not. Paul Townend will be angling to pick up the ride, too.

Mullins has already been laying the groundworks. Immediately after the Irish Gold Cup, he said: "We had him [Fact To File] in the Gold Cup but he was withdrawn, but he could always go in as a supplementary entry. We haven’t spoken and we’ll see what happens.

“The first thing Mark remarked to me when he got off the horse was that when he hit the front he pricked his ears, which tells us all that he had more in the tank."

On Gaelic Warrior, he said: "He ran too free. He was running a great race. Down to the fifth last I thought he had every chance of winning, but his exertions early on in the race just told.

“That doesn’t take away from him. At the pace he weren’t there he could be a Ryanair horse, but he definitely stays a trip as well.”

The champion trainer was also upbeat on Galopin Des Champs, making it clear they won't be giving up the chance to win an historic third Gold Cup that easily. It must be odds-on the 10-year-old will have Townend on his back again next month.

So, that's the case for the split - and there's the safety net of NRNB anyway - but what about the price?

Gaelic Warrior in a Fact To File-less Ryanair, facing a 10-year-old Jonbon with questionable form at Cheltenham and Heart Wood, is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. His current price (2/1) could look huge.

The opposition to Fact To File in the Gold Cup would be fiercer, but I don't envisage him going off any bigger than 5/2 - especially with Jango Baie skipping the Denman Chase at the weekend.

The risk is that both selections end up in the big one and we're left with a 7/2 single on Fact To File, but I strongly believe that if Mr. McManus coughs up the £25k supplementary fee, Gaelic Warrior goes the other way.

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