Douvan

Born in France to sire Walk In The Park and dam Star Face, Douvan is one of the most consistent national hunt racers in the sport of horse racing. His record of fourteen wins and two seconds from a total of eighteen recognised race meetings is enough to put him among horse racing’s elite, achieving reputable individual records over both chase and hurdle races.

Two opening races in France proved Douvan to be full of potential, winning the Prix Karly Flight at Compiegne and finishing second in the Prix General Macon De La Giclais at Saint-Malo. The early success led Susannah Ricci into buying Douvan and sending him to Ireland in order to be trained by world class horse trainer Willie Mullins.

The sheer quality of Douvan was clear to see as soon as he moved to Willie Mullins stables, winning thirteen races in a row including the Sky Bet Supreme Novices Hurdle and the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase at Cheltenham, as well as the Doom Bar Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree. It started to look like Douvan would never fail to win a race ever again up until the 2017 Cheltenham Festival, where 2/9 favourite Douvan resulted seventh, leaving a space for 11/1 Special Tiara to finish first in his place.

Returning to Cheltenham Festival the following year saw even more disappointment in falling before the end of the race, this time allowing fierce rival Altior to win the race ahead of him. Returning to Ireland saw Douvan only getting as far as second in the Boyle Sports Champion Chase at Punchestown, where Willie Mullins later announced that Douvan would be out for an indefinite period through injury, potentially missing a large portion of the 2018/19 racing season.

All of horse racing’s best nags are defined by their performances at Cheltenham Racecourse and Douvan is no different. He had only run in four recognised race meetings before making his first entry into Cheltenham Festival, winning the 2015 Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at a 2/1 starting price. Douvan sealed a second successive win in the following year by winning the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase at an even more favourable 1/4 starting price. Cheltenham results tailed off in the second and third attempt, finishing at a lacklustre seventh in the 2017 Queen Mother Champion Chase, and falling before the end of the 2018 Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Sustaining such a solid record for winning his races is enough of a reason for horse racing fans to be interested in Douvan odds over future runs. It’s exciting to see how far Douvan can extend his record, so we use this page as a hub on everything surrounding Douvan races and information on the Willie Mullins horse.

When is Douvan racing next?

Due to the injury which Willie Mullins claims could rule Douvan out for a lot of the 2018/19 racing season, there are currently no race meetings that Douvan is set to run in. Check back later for regular updates.