Willie Mullins assembles team to target Auteuil prizes

Al Boum Photo is bidding to become just the third horse in history to win the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris and the Cheltenham Gold Cup when he runs at Auteuil on Sunday.

The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old is a dual winner of Cheltenham's blue riband but only Mandarin and The Fellow have won both races before.

Well beaten by stablemate Allaho at Punchestown having finished only sixth at Cheltenham this year, Mullins is hoping his chaser takes a shine to the different test.

"Al Boum Photo deserves to run in the Grand Steeple. He is a two-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It would be nice to have a horse that could tackle Auteuil and Cheltenham," he said.

"Riding him this season Paul (Townend) felt he was fresher than he was last season. You never know, he might take a shine to Auteuil and be very competitive.

"Joe and Marie (Donnelly, owners) are going to be there so everything suits. Hopefully we’ll go close.

"I thought it was a good run at Punchestown. In those long distance chases, when your chance has gone so far out jockeys don’t persist. He ran well but Allaho was just awesome on the day. He’ll be fine as he didn’t have a very hard race when his chance had gone."

Mullins also runs Burrows Saint (Rachael Blackmore) and Franco De Port (Danny Mullins) in the highlight of the French season.

"Burrows Saint ran well in this when fifth in 2019," Mullins went on.

"My worry with him is that he hasn’t produced his best form this year. Maybe he was going to do that in the Aintree National as he was travelling quite well when he fell – although there was still a circuit to go. That’s my worry about Burrows Saint.

"Franco De Port is a shot in the dark. On ratings he would not be good enough, but he jumps well enough and has a