Willie Mullins says he is relaxed about the prospect of making history at Cheltenham when the festival gets underway on Tuesday.
The Irish trainer needs just six more race wins this week to reach the 100-winner milestone at the Old Course.
‘It’s not something I think anyone in racing ever thought of so I don’t know,’ he said.
‘We’ve gone one or two days without a winner at Cheltenham and no-one is gifted winners at Cheltenham.
‘It’s only when you go back every year – you sort of forget how hard it is to win there.’
Willie Mullins needs just six more wins to make it 100 winners at Cheltenham
State Man is a 4-11 favourite to win the Champions Hurdle on Day 1 at Cheltenham
Alongside his top rider Paul Townend, Mullins trained six winners in 2023 and he has 20 runners on the first day of the festival alone.
Mullins’ entries on Tuesday include a bevy of favourites, with the likes of 3-1 Tullyhill and 4-11 State Man the shortest odds in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at 1:30pm and the Champions Hurdle at 3:30pm.
At 6-1, Meetingofthewaters is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the Ultima Handicap Chase at 2:50pm, while 7-4 Gaelic Warriors and 11-2 Il Etait Temps are the horses to beat in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase at 2:10pm.
With 94 wins, Mullins has 21 more victories than his closest challenger Nicky Henderson and conceded the expectations of delivering continued success was hard to avoid.
‘It’s the same apprehension. Will we get a winner? Is this the year we have a blowout?,’ he told The Guardian.
‘Last year we had six winners and some people were disappointed because they thought we’d break our hundred with a dozen winners.
‘We managed to win the Gold Cup and Champion Chase but the expectation is so heavy.