Mighty Park looks mighty exciting to Mullins

While Willie Mullins ponders running plans for his crack team of novice hurdlers at the Cheltenham Festival, Mighty Park has drawn comparison to the mighty Faugheen

Owned by JP McManus, the impressive Fairyhouse scorer – who is closely related to the mercurial Might Bite – holds entries for both the Supreme and Turners Novices’ Hurdles and wowed the master of Closutton when making all on his stable bow in January.

“When Mark (Walsh) got off Mighty Park he said he had a look round at the second-last and couldn’t believe how far in front he was,” said Mullins.

“He thought he was going a normal pace, so his cruising speed must be huge and he’s a fantastic jumper, so I think that puts him right in the mix as well.

“Your gut tells you he has to be a hell of a horse to do what he did – any horse that wins by 38 lengths must have a huge engine, you’re into Faugheen territory when you do things like that.

“I was slagging JP saying he was running my Champion Bumper horse in a maiden hurdle. From day one I always thought he was good enough to win the Champion Bumper, so that’s the sort of ability he was showing me at home.”

Also holding an entry for both the Festival curtain-raiser and the longer event 24 hours later is recent Leopardstown Grade One third King Rasko Grey, who was involved in a thrilling photo-finish with Talk The Talk (first) and Ballyfad (second).

“King Rasko Grey was third the other day and jumping the last I was thinking my fellow looks like a mare in foal compared to the other two. I think he has every chance of improving more than they will condition-wise and they are two of the top ones in Ireland, so that brings him right into it.

“King Rasko Grey should have enough speed for the Supreme, but your first thought, especially with the way he won in Limerick, would be the Turners. All those things are still in the mix.”

Stylish Dublin Racing Festival winner Doctor Steinberg is another giving Mullins plenty to ponder ahead of the Festival, with the handler suggesting he would like to see the Grade One scorer follow in the footsteps of Final Demand by heading to the Turners over the Albert Barlett Novices’ Hurdle.

“I was watching the race the other day and when he’s coming up to the winning post I’m thinking Turners and everyone else is saying Albert Bartlett,” said Mullins.

“I’m looking at the way he pulled and dragged his jockey through the race and I don’t think you can do that over three miles at Cheltenham.

“You’ll have a faster race in the Turners which might also be a better quality race and I will leave it up to Paul Townend – maybe we will find some way of riding him differently.

“We rode him from the front the other day and he wanted pace in the race and you could ride him differently in an Albert Bartlett, maybe get him covered up and settled. It would be crucial we could get him settled if we were thinking about running in the Albert Bartlett.”