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RacingBetter News |
| Monday 2nd February 2026 | |
Willie Mullins Has Trained 113 Cheltenham Winners – Is He the Best Jumps Trainer Ever?
Irish trainer Willie Mullins has trained a record number of Cheltenham winners. He became the first trainer to break the 100 winners barrier during the 2024 festival, when he trained a third of the winning horses. AskGamblers analysed data from Mullins’ career over the past 30 years and has found that Mullins’ wins per year have only increased over time.
In 2025, Mullins entered an elite club of just a handful of trainers to win the Grand National three times. If he wins again, which you wouldn’t put past him, he’d be one of just four trainers to win it four times and the first to do so since 2004.
Mullins is showing no signs of slowing down with 99 horses currently in the running for Cheltenham 2026. So, is he the best trainer ever?
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
There can be little doubt that Willie Mullins is the top jumps trainer at the moment having won the Irish Champion Trainer titles 18 times in a row. He holds the record for the most wins in a season, set at 257 in 2023-24, including a world record 39 Grade 1 winners.
In the same season, Mullins became the first Irish-based trainer to win the British National Hunt Trainers’ Championship in 70 years. There can be no doubt of his prowess at Cheltenham with a record 113 wins under his belt. Since his first winner, Tourist Attraction in 1995, Mullins has steadily become the festival’s top trainer.
Let’s take a look at his form at Cheltenham over the years.
What Makes Mullins a Winner?
Before becoming a trainer, Mullins was a six-time champion amateur jockey with over 500 wins. He won the 1983 Aintree Fox Hunters’ Chase on Atha Cliath and the 1996 Cheltenham Bumper on Wither or Which. Some say it’s this in-depth understanding of all sides of the sport which makes him a superior trainer.
Magic with Mares
Mullins is renowned for his ability to train mares, often considered more difficult due to hormonal fluctuations. He formed a special bond with standout mare Quevaga who he won the Mares’ Hurdle with six times in a row.
Lossiemouth is another of Mullins’ remarkable mares. She has won the Mares’ Hurdle twice (2023-24 and 2024-25), the 2025 William Hill Aintree Hurdle and Triumph Hurdle in 2023. The pair will make another appearance at Cheltenham in 2026 in the Mares’ Hurdle and Champion Hurdle.
Are There Any Current Challengers?
Mullins’ dominance is pretty clear-cut amongst modern trainers with Nicky Henderson the only trainer to come close. Henderson has trained 75 Cheltenham winners since the start of his career in 1985, including two Gold Cup winners in Bobs Worth and Long Run.
Henderson found notable success with Constitution Hill, who won all of his first ten races. His wins include the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (2022), the Christmas Hurdle (2022, 2023 and 2024), the Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy (2023) and the William Hill Aintree Hurdle (2023).
However, Henderson can’t quite match the dominance of Mullins, particularly at Cheltenham. Constitution Hill has also experienced a shocking downturn, falling at three of his last four starts. Henderson has still entered him for this year’s Champion Hurdle, so we’ll be paying close attention to see how they fare.
Does Anyone Come Close to Mullins?
We have to go back a little further in time to find anyone who could truly challenge Mullins for the title of greatest jumps trainer of all time…
Martin Pipe
Martin Pipe is well known for revolutionising modern training with his innovative techniques which are used widely today. He used interval training over short gallops to get his horses fitter than those managed by other trainers.
Pipe kept his horses lean using additional saddle weights, treadmills and swimming pools. To more accurately monitor their progress he set up a lab in his stables to routinely test blood. His methods are now widely used within the industry today.
The Stats
Here’s a quick overview of some of Martin Pipe’s most notable achievements.
- Trained over 200 winners in a season on eight occasions.
- Had 4,183 European winners in his career.
- Trained 243 winners in one season (only bested by Mullins).
- 34 Cheltenham winners, including two Champion Hurdles wins.
- Won the Grand National with Miinnehoma.
- 256 Flat victories, including six at Royal Ascot.
Fred Rimell
Just one of three trainers to win the Grand National four times, Fred Rimell has cemented his place in history as one of the sport’s best. Before becoming a trainer, Rimell was a Champion Jockey, winning the title in 1939 with 61 season wins, a similar path to Mullins.
The Stats
- Trained four Grand National winners.
- Five time Champion Trainer (1960,1961,1970,1971,1976).
- Second person ever to train the winners of all the major National Hunt prizes.
- Won the Champion Hurdles twice with Comedy of Errors (1973 and 1975), the first horse to ever regain the Champion Hurdle crown.
- Became the first trainer to earn £1 million in prize money for owners.
- Won the Gold Cup twice with Woodland Venture (1967) and Royal Frolic (1976).
So, Is Mullins the Best?
Mullins stands on the shoulders of some of the sport’s greatest jump trainers, such as Pipe and Rimell. Both were vital to helping race horse training develop into the data-driven field it is today. By using the methods that they helped to popularise, Mullins has been able to overtake their achievements and become the best jumps trainer ever.
He’s bagged the most wins ever at Cheltenham, with 113, and has at least 99 horses entered to run at the festival this year. Only one question remains – what will Willie Mullins, the best jump trainer, do next?
