How many times has Willie Mullins won the Champion Bumper?

As usual, Willie Mullins has a very strong hand in this year’s Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival – but how many times has he won the race?

Mullins is the reigning Cheltenham Festival top trainer and the Champion Bumper is a race he’s dominated over the years since its introduction in 1992.

It’s a flat race contested over 2m ½f on the old course – known as a ‘bumper’ – which is designed for horses who have not previously ran on the flat to gain experience before going over obstacles.

Bumpers are usually the last race on the card, which is the case on day two of the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday.

The Champion Bumper is the most prestigious of its kind in jump racing, open to horses between the ages of four and six who have ran maximum three times in National Hunt flat races.

Willie Mullins is the most successful trainer in Champion Bumper history with 13 winners

No trainer has enjoyed more success in the Champion Bumper than Mullins, who has won the race an incredible 13 times.

Mullins often runs a handful of horses in the race and the market doesn’t always get it right, with plenty of big priced winners coming from the Closutton yard.

Five of his last eight winners include Cousin Vinny (2008, 12/1), Champagne Fever (2012, 16/1), Briar Hill (2013, 25/1), Relegate (2018, 25/1) and Ferny Hollow (2020, 11/1).

Willie Mullins trained and rode his first Champion Bumper winner

Mullins won the race for the first time in 1996 with a horse called Wither Or Which, who went on to finish fifth in the 1999 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

In a particularly unique case – Mullins himself steered the horse to victory as its trainer too!

Willie’s son Patrick rode his father’s 100th Cheltenham Festival winner in the 2024 Champion Bumper

Patrick Mullins saddled Jasmin De Vaux to victory in the 2024 Champion Bumper, marking a century of winners at the Cheltenham Festival for his father Willie.

Willie Mullins’ Best Champion Bumper Results

2018 Champion Bumper

1. Relegate (Willie Mullins) – 25/1
2. Carefully Selected (Willie Mullins) – 6/1
3. Tornado Flyer (Willie Mullins) – 14/1
4. Acey Milan (Anthony Honeyball) – 9/2 fav
5. Blackbow (Willie Mullins) – 5/1

2020 Champion Bumper

1. Ferny Hollow (Willie Mullins) – 11/1
2. Appreciate It (Willie Mullins) – 15/8 fav

2021 Champion Bumper

1. Sir Gerhard (Willie Mullins) – 85/40
2. Kilcruit (Willie Mullins) – 10/11 fav

2022 Champion Bumper

1. Facile Vega (Willie Mullins) – 15/8 fav
2. American Mike (Gordon Elliott) – 5/2
3. James’s Gate (Willie Mullins) – 16/1
4. Seabank Bistro (Willie Mullins) – 18/1

2023 Champion Bumper

1. A Dream To Share (John Kiely) – 7/2
2. Fact To File (Willie Mullins) – 16/5 fav
3. Captain Teague (Paul Nicholls) – 40/1
4. Lecky Watson (Willie Mullins) – 80/1
5. It’s For Me (Willie Mullins) – 6/1
6. Captain Cody (Willie Mullins) – 50/1
7. Western Diego (Willie Mullins) – 18/1
8. No Time To Wait (Gordon Elliott) – 33/1
9. Loughglynn (Willie Mullins) – 33/1
10. Chapeau De Soleil (Willie Mullins) – 40/1

2024 Champion Bumper

1. Jasmin De Vaux (Willie Mullins) – 9/2
2. Romeo Coolio (Gordon Elliott) – 18/1
3. Jalon D’oudairies (Gordon Elliott) – 3/1 fav
4. Sounds Victorious (Willie Mullins) – 66/1
5. Fishery Lane (Willie Mullins) – 66/1
6. The Yellow Clay (Gordon Elliott) – 17/2
7. Fleur Au Fusil (Willie Mullins) – 10/1
8. Royal Infantry (Dan Skelton) – 18/1
9. Union Avenue (James Moffatt) – 125/1
10. You Oughta Know (Willie Mullins) – 15/2

Willie Mullins Champion Bumper Winners

Willie Mullins Champion Bumper Runners 2025

Mullins has plenty of challengers lining up in this year’s renewal of the Champion Bumper including both current market leaders.

There is little to separate the two at the head of the market, Copacabana and Gameofinches – who both ran away impressive winners in bumpers at Navan and Punchestown respectively.

Bambino Fever is also one who could go under the radar after impressively landing a Grade 2 at the Dublin Racing Festival last month.

JP McManus purchased Aqua Force after a wide-margin victory in a bumper at Gowran Park in February and the horse was immediately moved from Miguel Gunn’s yard to Closutton.