Cheltenham Festival hope MINELLA COCOONER impresses at Navan

Minella Cocooner, a Grade One-winning novice hurdler last season, gets off the mark over fences at the third time of asking with a really fluent jumping display in deep ground at Navan to ignite Cheltenham Festivals aspirations for trainer Willie Mullins.

Minella Cocooner was cut for both the National Hunt Chase and the Brown Advisory on the back of this, with Paddy Power and Betfair going 8/1 (from 16/1) for the National Hunt Chase and 20/1 (from 50/1) for the Brown Advisory.

Patrick Mullins, the all-time leading amateur rider and assistant trainer to his father, said: “It was a huge improvement from his first run but obviously he'd had a long time off with injuries.

“He jumped spectacular there and seemed a lot more settled than he was in his hurdling days. [Rider] Paul [Townend] was delighted with him.”

A contender for the National Hunt Chase - with Mullins on board - at the Cheltenham Festival in March?

“He's qualified now as he's had two runs and been placed over three miles. You'd definitely have to put his name in the hat for that," he added.

“There is the Brown Advisory as well, obviously he was second in the Albert Bartlett so he has plenty of class.

“Cheltenham and the festival is a much different atmosphere than here today and he was very keen in the Albert Bartlett. He's older and more mature now though.”

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• Uploaded on 21/01/2024 4:48:05 AM
• Category: Post Race

Tags: cheltenham COCOONER festival Minella Navan