Straight to Cheltenham for Supreme favourite Salvator Mundi

Willie Mullins insists he has plenty of faith in Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle favourite Salvator Mundi and will now send him straight to the Cheltenham Festival.

Having been second to Sir Gino on his sole outing in France and then finishing sixth in last season’s Triumph Hurdle on debut for the Closutton stable, big things were expected of him this term.

The five-year-old cantered home by a wide margin at Tipperary but then received mixed reviews for his success in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer at Punchestown, where he was far from fluent early on before finishing strongly.

However, Mullins believes he will get his act together in the jumping department when it matters most and does not feel the need for another outing at the Dublin Racing Festival, stating: “He won’t run, his next run will be Cheltenham.

“I was very happy with him. I thought jumping the third-last, he had no chance, he’d blown up. But he took a breather and to do what he did, to come back and beat them all, wow!

“After pulling as hard as he did and running his race, I thought I’d be quite forgiving of him, knowing how long it took us to get him ready, thinking he’d blown up and will be much better the next day.

“And then he got his second wind and came out and beat them, so to me that was good enough, it was very good.

“He jumps much better at home, he just pulled too hard, his head was into flying and not racing, so I’m not worried about his jumping, we think he jumps very well. There will be a lot stronger pace at Cheltenham and he can let fly then.”

Fellow Supreme hopeful Kaid d’Authie is on course to appear at Leopardstown, however, in the Grade One Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle and Mullins clearly has a soft spot for the JP McManus-owned gelding.

He made amends for a fall at Navan when making all to land a Leopardstown maiden, where he was always doing enough to prevail despite only having half a length to spare over Koktail Divin at the line.

Mullins said: “He will go for the two-mile version, that’s what is in my head at the moment, unless something changes.

“From the first day he came to the stable, some horses just hit you, like the first day I saw Fact To File, the first day I saw Majborough – and Kaid d’Authie, they are just fine beasts that you’d want to buy and ride.”