The Best Is Yet To Come From Douvan

Willie Mullins has trained some of National Hunt racing's biggest names in the last 20 years, but never before has a horse made him more excited than the mighty Douvan.

Florida Pearl captured the hearts of a nation in the late 1990s and was long hailed by Mullins as the greatest chaser he had ever trained.

In the last decade Faugheen, Annie Power, Quevega and the incomparable Hurricane Fly had few peers in the hurdling division, while Vautour was a spectacular chaser at his best before losing his life in a freak accident last autumn.

Given the startling amount of equine talent that has passed through his hands, it is hardly surprising the County Carlow maestro keeps superlatives to a minimum, but the smile on his face as Douvan's name is mentioned says it all.

It was on a stable visit two years ago that after kindly inviting members of the British and Irish press into his living room to discuss his Festival prospects, Mullins let slip that Douvan, at the time being readied for his first trip to Prestbury Park for a tilt at the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, was ''as nice a horse as we've had ever going to Cheltenham". It was an unusually bullish comment from a man who at the time had trained 33 winners - now 48 - at the showpiece fixture.

Hindsight tells you that Mullins, as usual, was probably right. Douvan was scintillating in the Supreme and awesome in the Arkle last year, and it will be one of the biggest shocks in Festival history if he does not complete the hat-trick and win his 14th consecutive race in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

"It's easy to watch him at home. A horse like Un De Sceaux is hard to watch, because every day he goes out he wants to be competitive," said Mullins.

"Douvan is a lovely relaxed individual. Holly (Conte) rides him every day and they go round the gallop at their own pace.

"It's not only what everyone else thinks of him, it's what I've thought of him, what he could be. The bar keeps rising and he keeps meeting it, but he's not there yet."

His last comment was particularly interesting, suggesting that despite Douvan's current dominance, Mullins feels he has not yet reached the ceiling of his ability - a scary thought for all those who may cross his path.

He said: "He's got to win a Champion Chase, hasn't he? Maybe even a couple of them. He's won everything we've asked him to win, but he's got to win his championship race.

"I think I've said what I thought about him - that he could be the best that I've ever had - but he's a long way to go to get there.

"He's certainly got to get past Hurricane Fly, who did what he did. The bar is high for him."