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WILLIE MULLINS is looking to break British trainers’ hearts all over again – with an ‘absolutely huge’ Royal Ascot.
Although it’s fellow Irish handler Aidan O’Brien who could give him a headache in the Gold Cup.
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Mullins won it all last year including the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup en route to lifting the British jumps trainers’ title.
He has ventured into Flat racing with some of his speedier types in recent years and had the favourite for the Melbourne Cup last November.
Rich Ricci’s Vauban won the Copper Horse handicap at Royal Ascot before flopping in the multi-million pound Australian showpiece.
But he’s back for a crack at the Ascot Gold Cup this year and his trainer thinks he is in ‘very good nick’ for the 2m4f Thursday feature worth £370,000 to the winner.
Mullins told the Racing Post: “For a stable like ours, which is predominantly jumps, it would be absolutely huge to win the Ascot Gold Cup, but I think Aidan O’Brien will have something to say about that!
“He looks like he might have a stranglehold on the race with Kyprios (10-11 fav).
“No matter what way you look at it, he’s going to be very hard to beat and he’s the one we will all be afraid of.
“We came within a whisker of winning the Gold Cup a few years ago with Simenon and hopefully Vauban can give a good account of himself. I think he can.
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“I was delighted with his reappearance at York. He hadn’t ran in a very long time, not since Melbourne, and I knew he would come on for it.
“He goes there in very good nick, but, as I said, I think Aidan’s horse is going to be a tough nut to crack.”
Vauban pumped subsequent County Hurdle winner Absurde when they met at Ascot last season and the latter goes for the Gold Cup too.
While Mullins could also run the likes of Belloccio, My Lyka, Ethical Diamond and Highwind, who runs in the silks Galopin Des Champs’ owner Audrey Turley.
Fellow Irish jumps trainers Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead will have runners through the week too.
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