Horse Racing
What Is The WORST Cheltenham Festival Day For Willie Mullins Winners?
Andy is a horse racing journalist and betting expert who specializes in trends and stats. With his long association with TrainersQuotes and FromTheStables, Andy has also built up solid s with some of the best stables in the UK. Has written for GeeGeez and bookmakers Matchbook and BetBright in the past too, plus was the former sports betting editor of odds comparison site Easyodds and Juicestorm. Has also appeared on betting podcasts for MatchBook and has featured in the popular Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Guide in the past. Andy's also ghost written for former top jockey Richard Dunwoody and continues to have a monthly column in the Racing Ahead horse racing magazine. Now a regular on Sportscasting giving his views, trends and tips mainly on horse racing - if there's a stat to be explored and it's a sport, Andy is sure to find a betting angle to use. You can also hear Andy's weekly horse racing views and best bets on the popular Final Furlong podcast.
Get to know Andy Newton betterPublished13 Mar 2025
Trainer Willie Mullins has fired in 103 Cheltenham Festival winners over the years – with his first coming back in 1995 – but what days has the Closutton handler done best at and which of the four days has been by far the worst for the top Irish stable?
Willie Mullins Hasn’t Had A Cheltenham Festival Thursday Winner Since 2022
You can see below the Willie Mullins Cheltenham winners broken down by each day since 2019.
He’s going to be long odds-on with the best horse racing betting sites in the UK to be top trainer for a twelfth time.
However, there is a clear day Mullins has struggled to fire in the winners. In fact, he’s not had a success on this day since 2022.
The day in question is THURSDAY, where Mullins has only sent out five winners on this day since 2019 and none in the last two Festivals.
That said, most other trainers would still bite your arm off for five winners at the Cheltenham Festival since 2019 on Thursday.
But we are talking about Mr Mullins here, who has banked an incredible 70 successes at the meeting in the last ten years – which is only three shy of the overall total Nicky Henderson has (73).
Day-by-Day Willie Mullins Cheltenham Winners Record Since 2019
| Day |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | Totals |
| Tuesday | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 (21%) |
| Wednesday | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 (26%) |
| Thursday | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 (11%) |
| Friday | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 17 (40%) |
| Totals | 9 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 42 |
There Are THREE Races On Cheltenham Thursday Willie Mullins Has NEVER Won
One of the main reason’s Willie Mullins has struggled at Cheltenham Thursday is that he’s actually NEVER won three of the seven races.
In total at the Festival Mullins is still to win seven races.
However, three of these – Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, Plate Handicap Chase and the Kim Muir – come on the Thursday.
Mullins has NOT had a winner on the Thursday at Cheltenham since Allaho won the 2022 Ryanair Chase (watch below). While of the 42 winners he’s had at the meeting since 2019 – only FIVE have come on this day (11%).
Allaho Was The Last Willie Mullins Cheltenham Festival Thursday Winner (2022)
What Are The Cheltenham Thursday Races Willie Mullins Has Struggled In?
See below the 2025 Cheltenham Festival Thursday races and running order. Can Willie Mullins get his first Thursday winner since 2022?
- 1:20 Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle
- 2:00 Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase
- 2:40 Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle
- 3:20 Ryanair Chase
- 4:00 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle
- 4:40 TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase
- 5:20 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Chase
Willie Mullins Has Done Best On Friday’s At The Cheltenham Festival
So, we know what day is the worst for Willie Mullins at the Festival. But what has been the BEST Cheltenham day for the champion Irish trainer since 2019?
Step forward Gold Cup FRIDAY – where Mullins has fired in 17 winners since 2019. Which means 40% of his 42 winners over this period have come on the final day of the meeting.
Of course, he’s won four Gold Cups during this time – two with Galopin Des Champs and two with Al Boum Photo.
But has also done well on the last day in races like the County Hurdle (7 wins in total), Martin Pipe (4 wins in total) and Albert Bartlett (3 wins in total).