Nap of the Day: 5/4 Warrior to help Mullins win the war

All eyes on Saturday will be on Sandown's Jump Finale and the conclusion of the battle between Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins for the Jump Trainers' Championship.

My Nap of the Day is one for the latter, who I'm expecting to come out on top in Surrey.

If he was guaranteed to perform to anywhere near his best, what price would GAELIC WARRIOR be for the Oaksey Chase at Sandown on Saturday?

Willie Mullins' seven-year-old is, it's fair to say, a bit of an enigma. Since breaking punters' hearts when going down narrowly in the Fred Winter at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival on British debut, the son of Maxios has been a little hit-or-miss.

His form in the three years since reads 1112111U12231 - including defeats at 4/7f, 1/3f, 13/8f and 6/4f.

However, the majority of those defeats were over two miles, which I've never believed to be Gaelic Warrior's optimum trip.

His triumph in a sub-par Arkle at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival convinced many, including connections, of the opposite, but not me. I've seen him as a stayer ever since his 10-length victory in a Grade 1 over three miles at the Punchestown Festival two years ago - his first start over such a trip.

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So, I wasn't at all surprised to see him bounce right back to his best at Aintree's Grand National Meeting earlier this month, winning the Bowl over 3m1f.

Under Patrick Mullins, who's replaced by stable jockey Paul Townend on Saturday, he saw off Dan Skelton's well-fancied Grey Dawning fairly easily to land the Grade 1 contest by a widening three lengths.

I'm hoping for more consistency over staying trips, which is surely his game for the foreseeable future. He could even be a Gold Cup horse for next year.

If so, he simply must be winning this Grade 2 contest. His main rival is a 10-year-old Pic D'orhy, whose form is almost all on flat tracks and over shorter distances than this.

Stablemate Gentleman De Mee won the Topham at Aintree, but nothing he's achieved in his career suggests he could put it up to a prime Gaelic Warrior. The same can be said of the other six runners.

For me, it's simple. If the real Gaelic Warrior stands up, he ought to oblige with a degree of ease and give Mullins a major boost in the title race. The question is, can you trust him? I'm prepared to at current prices.

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