Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Melissa Jones

James Milner's namesake horse and 12-1 winner he backed returns to Cheltenham Festival

James Milner's namesake horse and the winner he backed at 12-1 is bidding to plunder another Cheltenham prize.

Mrs Milner raced to victory in the 2021 Pertemps Network Final and her trainer has set his sights on a repeat during the week.

Paul Nolan is sending her to the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle this time, on the first day of the meeting.

Last year Liverpool ace Milner was counting his winnings after the horse scampered away from her 21 rivals to win by five lengths.

The Premier League star and her backers did face a few nervy moments in-running, as the mare was hampered with a couple of hurdles to jump and then a riderless horse was near her up the run-in.

England's former midfielder told his Twitter followers about his successful bet on Mrs Milner and confirmed he was not one of its owners.

James Milner on the pitch for Liverpool (Getty Images)

He also joked that his wife Amy wanted his winnings, with a series of emojis accompanying his post.

Nolan expects his horse's course form to bring her right into the mix again this year, when she lines up in Tuesday's race.

Bookies make her a 9-1 shot to defeat a field which includes fellow previous Festival scorers Telmesomethinggirl and Concertista.

“She’s run twice at Cheltenham and she was second and then won, we’ve freshened her up since Newbury (in November, finished fourth) and we’re hoping we’ll see a different mare in Cheltenham,” Nolan said.

“At Newbury I don’t think at any stage of the whole race Bryan was really happy with her, normally she’d run to the line and that day she didn’t. A lot of the horses didn’t, it was a funny sort of race as they went quite quick.

“It was just one of those things, I think she was a bit flat.

“Bryan wasn’t happy with her at any point and that’s what we’re putting it down to, hopefully she can rectify that.”

Mrs Milner (right) won the Pertemps Final at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival (Getty)

The Cheltenham race (4.10pm) is two and a half miles – a shorter distance than the one Mrs Milner won over 12 months ago.

“She improved with the step up in trip for the Pertemps last year, now we’re going back in trip and the ground is going to probably be a bit softer unless the forecast changes,” Nolan added.

“It’s going to be a good race, but hopefully she’ll run respectably and go well.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.