For many jumps trainers, the end of the latest National Hunt season signals the time to take stock of the year just gone and begin making plans for the campaign to come. Others keep things ticking over on the summer jumping scene, with perhaps the odd runner on the flat. And then we have Willie Mullins.
Not content with dominating the Cheltenham Festival, bagging a second Grand National in as many years, and swatting the British trainers aside to claim the trainer’s championship on both sides of the Irish Sea, Mullins is now taking dead aim at the major flat festivals. First up, Royal Ascot.
No Stranger to the Royal Winner’s Enclosure
Whilst nowhere near his jaw-dropping numbers at the Cheltenham Festival, Mullins already boasts a Royal Ascot winning tally of which many flat trainers would be proud. Not bad for a yard where events on the level are little more than a sideline.
First successful with Simenon in the 2012 Ascot Stakes and most recently with Belloccio in the 2024 Copper Horse Handicap, Mullins now has 10 Royal Ascot wins to his name. Will that tally move further into double figures in 2025?
Willie Mullins wins the Copper Horse Handicap again as Belloccio storms to Royal @Ascot glory! pic.twitter.com/hSGqKvfRgr
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 18, 2024
As with most things the Closutton maestro puts his mind to, we wouldn’t be in a rush to bet against him. If Mullins is to enter the Royal Ascot Winner’s Enclosure in 2025, the following trio may be most likely to take him there.
Reaching High: Ascot Stakes
From the Riccis to Gigginstown House Stud and on to Brighton & Hove Albion supremo Tony Bloom, Willie Mullins has trained winners for some of the most prominent owners in the sport. However, a win for Reaching High in the Ascot Stakes will mark a first for the trainer.
Sporting the famous purple-chested, red-sleeved, and black-hatted silks, this ex-Sir Michael Stoute runner represents none other than His Majesty the King & Her Majesty the Queen.
Successful only once in eight outings for the legendary Newmarket handler, Reaching High joined Mullins following Stoute’s retirement on the 12th of May 2025. Sent to Leopardstown just four days later, he made an encouraging start to life in Ireland when losing out by just a short head at that meeting.
A close finish, but it’s Not Just Any Eagle who wins in a thrilling conclusion to the Leopardstown Lady Riders Handicap for Robyn Donaghue-Leahy and Patrick Flynn pic.twitter.com/fXL1twDyhJ
— Leopardstown RC (@LeopardstownRC) May 16, 2025
With four previous wins, Mullins sits just one behind Martin Pipe in the all-time Ascot Stakes trainer’s table. Could Reaching High be the horse to see him draw level? The four-year-old is certainly nicely bred for the task at hand, being by Sea The Stars and out of Estimate, who famously landed the 2013 Gold Cup for the Queen.
Absurde: Queen Alexandria Stakes
With wins in the Ebor Handicap and Chester Stakes on the flat, and County Hurdle and Sussex Champion Hurdle over jumps, Absurde is already one of Mullins finest dual-purpose performers. Last sighted finishing an admirable third in the Group 3 Ormonde Stakes, he is pencilled in to make a second Royal Ascot appearance in 2025.
Whilst a tilt at the Gold Cup remains on the table, particularly following the retirement of hot favourite Kyprios, this 2m5½f contest on the final day is deemed his most likely target. Having stayed on well to finish second behind stablemate Vauban over 1m6f in the 2023 Copper Horse Handicap, could this step-up in trip see him go one better?
If Absurde comes home in front, Mullins will move on to five Queen Alexandra Stakes wins – a total which would make him the most successful trainer in the history of the race.
Ethical Diamond: Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes
If there is a horse in the Mullins yard to replicate the exploits of Absurde in the coming years, it may be this five-year-old son of Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad. Whilst he has yet to claim a notable victory, he has threatened to do so both on the flat and over jumps.
Kicking off 2025 with a very fine 10-length Maiden Hurdle romp at Punchestown, he followed up with an excellent fourth in the County Hurdle and an unlucky seventh in the Scottish Champion Hurdle. Whilst he managed only fourth when sent off as the 7/4f in the 2024 Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes, his hurdle mark has increased by 12lb in the interim. If any of that improvement carries over to the flat, he may prove hard to beat.
Unstoppable over jumps and a formidable force on the flat, Mullins is a man to fear at the 2025 Royal Ascot Festival, which gets underway on Tuesday, the 17th of June.