Now is the time to tread carefully at Cheltenham

It really would be the ultimate irony should Willie Mullins finally land the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Djakadam next Friday, writes Pat Keane.

This has been a campaign which has seen so much go wrong for the Mullins team, as he heads to the Cotswolds with a much-depleted squad.

The season could hardly have started worse, with the much-publicised loss of those 60 Gigginstown-owned horses and then the death of the brilliant Vautour in a freak accident at Mullins’ Closutton base.