THE non-Grade 1 entries for the Dublin Racing Festival came out last week and, like Henry de Bromhead being MIA in the top level contests when they were released, it was surprising to see Willie Mullins being light in the Future Stars Bumper, with just two entries from the total of 16.

Mullins has won the race four times since it became a thing in 2018 and his representation in it has gradually grown, averaging three runners per running in the last five years, peaking at five in 2024, presumably from a bigger initial entry.

He won’t come close to that figure this year, with only Green Splendour and Sortudo engaged and, while both are decent types, they have been beaten already and might lack the star quality of previous winners like Appreciate It or Facile Vega.

The entry does reflect the Mullins bumper season so far in 2024/25, with his number of winners and runners a way behind previous campaigns, as can be seen in the attached table, which takes in runners in Ireland only.

Behind previous seasons

It could be argued that his winter bumper horses haven’t come out yet and there is likely truth in that, but the comparative bumper winners through the end of January – i.e. where we are now – are also behind previous seasons.

Of his 20 bumper winners in 2024/25, all but six came before the start of November, where he has had only four bumper runners so far in 2025 while, unusually, he had no runner in any of the bumpers at Limerick over Christmas.

Another aspect of this to consider is the gender divide. Of the 70 Mullins bumper runners so far in 2024/25, there has been an even split in terms of male and female runners, 35 of each with nine male winners and 11 female.

That is unusual for the yard - based on the three seasons previous, the divide was male winners and runners 85 and 265, female winners and runners 63 and 189, a 58%/42% split depending on how you cut it.

The strength in the mares is reflected in his entry for the Grade 2 on the Sunday of DRF, the Coolmore N.H. Sires Luxembourg Irish EBF Mares Bumper, where he has five of the 15 initial entries.

Perhaps if there is a Closutton Champion Bumper this year – and let’s face it, most years there are more than one – it could be a mare, though the likes of Amen Kate, Carrigmoornaspruce and Churchfield Sunset are no duds for other yards, so that promises to be a fascinating closer to the big meeting next weekend.

THE opening two-mile novice hurdle at Navan last Saturday might appear just another race, but it has a strong record of producing good horses; Galvin won in 2019, Banbridge in 2022, while 2024 runner-up Better Days Ahead went on to land the Martin Pipe shortly afterwards.

It was no surprise then to see Martin Brassil, trainer of this year’s winner James’s Gate, talking Cheltenham afterwards, saying that ‘we might enter him for probably a Coral Cup or maybe even one of the novice races’.

James’s Gate has a Cheltenham Festival backstory, having finished third in the 2022 Champion Bumper behind Facile Vega, shaping better than the result as he raced around the unfavoured inner, that the Champion Bumper that the stewards considering abandoning due to heavy rainfall.

He was good last Saturday, travelling smoothly and jumping better than he had on his previous start at Punchestown, though that weakness reappeared with his sprawling at the last.

Mark Walsh gave him time to recover and he won by a comfortable three-quarters of a length, and value for a fair bit more.

The thing is, however, that he is not currently qualified for any of the Cheltenham handicaps, as he has only had four runs over hurdles (albeit two of them last season), five runs now needed to qualify for non-novice handicaps at the Festival.

Nor is he alone in this regard, as others with a similar profile are also facing a tight time window to get the qualifying runs in, something like Taponthego, that finished behind him on Saturday, being another example.

This criterion, essentially a development on what was termed ‘the State Man rule’, was brought in to reduce the advantage held by unexposed types in handicaps.

This is reflected in recent results of races like the Martin Pipe, where the last four winners all had fewer than five hurdles runs in Britain and Ireland: Galopin Des Champs (3), Banbridge (5), Iroko (4) and Better Days Ahead (4).

It does seem a little harsh on the likes of James’s Gate, who through no fault of his own, missed 607 days after his bumper career, and only managed two runs, three weeks apart in his first season over hurdles.

Yet as an eight-year-old he is currently disqualified from Cheltenham handicaps, but them’s the rules.

TRAINERS, and punters, are going to have to get more creative in how they find Cheltenham handicap winners with these new rules and many of the latter group might bemoan the loss of the simple rubric of find the unexposed horse and back it, which has paid its way and more in the past.

All this is presented as increasing the competitiveness of the races and the meeting overall, but it could well end up producing more big-priced winners, which suits some more than others.

With these new rules in mind, a couple of performances from last weekend caught the eye. Blaze The Way has a new Irish mark of 125 after finishing a close second at Navan on Saturday, which might seem low for Cheltenham, but there won’t be the same number of novices around, he will get some ‘Irish tax’ on his rating and 122 got into the Martin Pipe last year.

That he stays further would help in that stamina-sapping race and Danny Mullins rode to that strength over two-and-a-half miles on Saturday, but it didn’t suit as the race went, the pace strong in front and he was the only one of the first eight to hold a forward early position.

It was a fine effort in the circumstances, and he is qualified for Cheltenham handicaps with six hurdles runs, while connections deserve credit for sharpening up his jumping that was poor on his early starts.

At Thurles on Sunday, Samui put up a fine effort to win after a 99-day break, his trainer commenting beforehand that the run would be needed, while the sharp test on good ground over less than two miles would hardly have suited.

He could manage only ninth in the County Hurdle last year, but he has since become a 104 horse on the flat, suggesting even his new Irish mark of 132 could be lenient, especially if granted a stiffer test as only a well-treated horse could have won under less than ideal circumstances on Sunday.

He, again, has had the requisite qualifying runs for Cheltenham handicaps.