In his pursuit of the British jumps trainers' title, Willie Mullins has scheduled El Fabiolo to compete in Sandown's Celebration Chase on April 27. Arkle winner Gaelic Warrior may accompany El Fabiolo aboard the boat.
Before the jumps season finale at the Esher track, Nicky Henderson revealed that the Celebration Chase was still a serious contender for Melling Chase winner Jonbon. This could make the Sandown job more difficult.
Mullins is in a strong position to win the trainers' title after winning his second Grand National with I Am Maximus last Saturday. He has increased his British prize money earnings to £2,874,693, just ahead of defending champion Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton.
In the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, El Fabiolo broke his undefeated record over fences when he hit the fifth hard and sprawled on landing, forcing Paul Townend to pull up the 2-9 shot shortly after.
The four-time Grade 1 winner is entered in the Punchestown Champion Chase, but Mullins is very much inclined to try his hand at Sandown's £150,000 race, which Jonbon won the previous year.
Mullins stated: “El Fabiolo will definitely go to Sandown. It'll be a very important race, it could be huge. Paul Nicholls is a master at winning the championship and he will have his tactics ready. We're hoping we can get one nice prize and make it difficult for Dan and Paul. El Fabiolo just wasn't right coming back from Cheltenham so we gave him a break and let him find his feet, but he's been bucking and kicking the last few mornings. We let him recuperate and he's done that. He's fit as a flea and one or two bits of work should see him right for Sandown”.
Over the next two weeks, Mullins plans to field a strong team at Ayr and Sandown, and Gaelic Warrior may also play for El Fabiolo.
He added: “Gaelic Warrior could go to Sandown, we'll see how things go, but I'd like to go to Punchestown with him. It's not something I like doing [putting a novice into an open company], but maybe this year we might. El Fabiolo will be there and he might be enough”.
Further discussing his challenge to the British trainers' championship, he stated: “We're bringing a lot to Ayr. It has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works for our Punchestown team, but I think we'll still have an A-team. We're bringing a lot to Ayr. It has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works for our Punchestown team, but I think we'll still have an A-team. We're getting huge goodwill, especially from people across the water as it's adding a bit of spice to the end of the season. It's a once-in-a-lifetime achievement if we can manage to pull it off. We're going to try to put everything into it”.