Willie Mullins: Douvan is just a ‘different species’

The JLT just got a whole lot more competitive. That was the consensus after Douvan, the horse which trainer Willie Mullins describes as ‘a different species’, gave an exhibition of jumping when routing two smart rivals in the Frank Ward Solicitors Irish Arkle.

A mass migration from the Arkle to the JLT Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival beckons after the son of Walk In The Park tightened his stranglehold on the market, earning quotes of 1-2 seven weeks before in advance of the two-mile novice chase on the opening day of the meeting.

Sent off the 1-14 chance to secure a third successive victory over fences, and a seventh consecutive win since joining the Mullins team, he jumped off in front and, without ever having to be asked a serious question, skipped across the final fence with a comfortable advantage.