Trainers' Championship finale: Mullins and Skelton set for Sandown showdown

Harry Fowler (@Harry_Fowler8) returns with his latest jumps racing column here on OddsNow, looking back at how a bonkers Trainers' Championship flipped on its head and offering up some thoughts on the UK's jumps season finale at Sandown this Saturday.

Mullins magic sparks unlikely turnaround

The 2024/25 National Hunt season in the UK comes to an end this Saturday at Sandown – although the Punchestown Festival in Ireland next week marks the conclusion of their season.

The big story right on these shores right now is the Trainers’ Championship battle between Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins.

Mullins, the defending champion, returns to try and retain his title. Even for the all-conquering master trainer, this achievement is truly remarkable.

The Trainers’ Championship runs throughout the entire year, with trainers like Skelton fielding runners consistently. In contrast, Mullins typically only sends horses over from Ireland for the major meetings – mainly Cheltenham and Aintree – before making a strong late-season push in April.

This term, Mullins’ title charge began at Cheltenham. At that point, his total winnings stood at £196,894, compared to Skelton’s £2,462,315. Surely not even he could have believed it was possible at that stage. 

Yet Mullins went on to field a staggering 10 winners from 28 races at the Festival, equalling his own record. That performance reduced the gap to £1,214,778—still a huge mountain to climb in the following month and a half.

Aintree for the Grand National was the next stop for the Closutton army, and he wasted no time, winning the first four races on Merseyside.

Staggering success continued, including an incredible 1-2-3 in the Grand National itself, cutting the deficit to just £122,026.

The scale of Mullins’ operation is truly  extraordinary. At Aintree—where he closed the gap by over £1 million—many of his stable stars remained in Ireland, yet he still dominated one of the biggest meetings in the UK calendar.

To put the entire Championship into perspective: Skelton has had 973 runners, earning £3,307,616, while Mullins has had just 182 runners, earning £3,283,054. Now, the improbable feels inevitable. Mullins enters the weekend a 1/8 favourite for glory, with Skelton 6/1.

All eyes on Sandown

There are seven races at Sandown on Saturday and the opening race, the Novices’ Championship Final Handicap Hurdle over two miles, sees neither Mullins nor Skelton field a runner.

It's an intriguing race to kick off the card. I’m looking at the qualifier at Southwell last time out, where Serious Challenge won and Sorceleur finished third, six lengths behind. They reoppose here, but Sorceleur is 10lbs better off this time.

Serious Challenge is clearly a horse on the up and one I’ve followed, but that weight swing I am with Sorceleur.

Race two is a Novices’ Handicap Chase, worth just over £20,000 to the winner. Despite having four entries, Mullins hasn’t declared any of them. Skelton runs Riskintheground, who is seeking a hat-trick and has been vital in his title pursuit, but this may come a bit too quickly in my opinion.

The third race is the Grade 2 Oaksey Chase (over £45,000 to the winner), where Mullins begins to flex his muscles. He has four of the nine runners, including Gaelic Warrior and Topham winner Gentleman De Mee.

Gaelic Warrior is the short-priced favourite, and understandably so after his impressive Aintree Bowl victory. Personally, I wouldn’t be backing him. He's not the most consistent.

Skelton runs Boombawn, who has a bit to find with the market leaders. Pic D’Orhy tends to save his best for Ascot, while Gentleman De Mee is particularly appealing up in trip for the first time and the one I would be with.

The Grade 2 Select Hurdle (also worth over £45,000) had the potential to be a showdown between Lossiemouth and Jade De Grugy, but neither has been declared.

Mullins runs only Kitzbuhel, which could be a real vote of confidence. Skelton has two – the mare Take No Chances and Gwennie May Boy.

Just six line up, but it looks a cracking little race. I think Kitzbuhel will appreciate going back right-handed, and perhaps the previous step up to three miles came too soon.

The Celebration Chase offers the biggest prize of the day (£99,663), but this one looks to be going to Nicky Henderson with Jonbon.

Skelton’s two, Unexpected Party and Harper’s Brook, appear to have it all to do – although there's not all that much depth to the field. Mullins fields two as well: Energumene, pulled up in the Champion Chase, and Il Etait Temps, who hasn’t been seen for a year.

Next up is the Gold Cup Handicap Chase, another race worth nearly £100,000 to the winner. It’s a full field of 20, with Mullins responsible for 10 of them.

Interestingly, he’s also declared Grangeclare West, which pushes 11 of the runners out of the handicap – including Skelton’s sole entry, Hoe Joly Smokes, who finds himself 13lbs out of the weights.

As mentioned, Mullins is a very warm order to retain the Trainers’ Championship, and it’s hard to argue against it. By the time we reach the 3:35pm, where he appears to have thrown the kitchen sink at it, I suspect he’ll already be in front of Skelton.

Mullins winning back-to-back titles will spark debate about his dominance, but the fact remains that if you take him out of meetings like Saturday, the quality of the racing would be much the poorer.

Previous Next