We crunch the numbers behind four days of astonishing success for the Carlow trainer where he won all three of the week’s major races
12:43, 14 Mar 2026Updated 22:36, 14 Mar 2026
Willie Mullins and his family, jockeys and yard staff celebrate with the 2026 Cheltenham Festival Leading Trainer trophy at the end of the festival(Image: ©INPHO/Tom Maher)
Willie Mullins was crowned leading trainer at the Cheltenham Festival for the 13th time this week after another astonishing four days for the Carlow man in the Cotswolds.
The 69-year-old saddled eight winners from his 69 runners, winning seven Grade One races, and achieving the rare feat of winning the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase and Gold Cup in the same season.
Gaelic Warrior’s Boodles Gold Cup success on Friday was the crowning achievement of a week where he also won the major races of the week with Lossiemouth and It Etait Temps.
Mullins first won the leading trainers’ award at Cheltenham in 2011 but since then he has dominated the Festival and his all-time winning tally now stands at an incredible 121 wins.
But how much cash did the Closutton King take home this week for himself, jockey Paul Townend, and his respective owners?
We’ve crunched the numbers on Mullins’ week at Cheltenham and the figures make for some eye-watering reading.
Mullins raced 69 horses in 26 of the 28 races – the only two races he didn’t have a runner in were the Ultima Handicap Chase on Tuesday and the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle on Thursday.
Over half, or 38 of those horses, collected some prize-money for connections, with the Gold Cup winning figure of £351,687 (€405,917) the biggest cheque won by a Mullins horse this week.
On Tuesday, Mullins ran just 11 horses and won £431,338 (€497,850) with Lossiemouth earning the biggest pay-day, £262,077 (€302,489), from her Champion Hurdle win.
The net return on Wednesday was £486,515 (€561,535) while Thursday’s tally was well down at £172,339 (€198,913) as the Closutton stable drew a rare blank on the third afternoon.
That Gold Cup win on Friday scooped the biggest daily return of £541,526 (€625,029) meaning the four-day amount won by Willie Mullins this week stands at an eye-watering £1.63 million (€1.9 million).
Mullins and his jockey Paul Townend can charge their owners around 10 percent of any winnings meaning for four days work in the Cotswolds this week, the pair earned close to €200,000 each.
Interestingly, Mullins has closed the gap on Dan Skelton to around £1.9 million in the UK trainers’ championship, a prize he has won for the past two years in succession.
He also has a battle on his hands with Gordon Elliott on the home front, with the Meath trainer holding a lead of around €400,000 going into the final weeks of the season.
Mullins has been crowned Irish champion trainer 19 times and in 2024 he became the first Irish trainer to win the UK title since Vincent O’Brien in the 1950s, repeating the feat in 2025.
It seems unlikely that Mullins will challenge Skelton in the UK this season, but with £1 million in the Grand National at Aintree to be won it’s not a complete impossibility considering he saddled four of the first five home in 2025.
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