EXCLUSIVE: Rebecca Curtis on Haiti Couleurs, Willie Mullins and her NAP for the 2026 Cheltenham Festival
Joshua Kerr 
Fresh off the back of a stunning Irish Grand National win with Haiti Couleurs, British trainer, Rebecca Curtis, sat down with the Horse racing team at Freebets.com to review a sensational season, which also included another win at this year's Cheltenham festival.
Reflecting on all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes and looking ahead to the future, here's what Rebecca had to say when speaking exclusively to the team at Free Bets...
Haiti Couleurs and Future Stars
Q: What does it mean to have a horse like Haiti Couleurs in the yard?
Absolutely amazing. It’s a huge boost for me, the staff, and the owners. It gives the yard such a buzz. Everyone works so hard. The three owners of Haiti have been brilliant, particularly Dave McDermott.
At the end of last season, we sat down and talked about bettering the yard, investing in better facilities, including our gallops. Dave made a significant investment into the yard, and that’s made a real difference to our results this year.
It's fantastic to repay him with an Irish National win.
Q: How important has your team been behind the scenes in preparing for this success?
"We've got an amazing bunch of staff — hardworking, brilliant riders. If you see the care out horses get individually. Being a smaller yard, I’m very hands-on myself, doing the haying, feeding and medications, which you may not get at the bigger yards.
Staff are so passionate about the horses, they’re dedicated, they love them. When we returned from Ireland at 1am, there were cards and banners outside the stable doors. It's a massive thrill for everyone and a huge team effort for which I’m massively grateful for.
Q: With the jumps season now wrapped up, how do you reflect on the strength of competition this year?
Yeah, I think it is all about ammunition and you know, the opposition is very strong, particularly the Irish, because I think the best horses are probably staying in Ireland, aren't they?
And there's a massive domination of the best horses which go into the biggest stables and I think that is one of the big downfalls for me being a small stable. There's no getting away from that. And sadly it does just seem to be getting stronger and stronger.
Q: Are there any exciting young horses in your yard we should be keeping an eye on for next season?
I really like Douglas Hyde, a novice staying hurdler. He unfortunately had ‘seconditus’ for us this year. He was second three times in bumpers this season, always behind very good horses. He’s a horse I’ve always thought a lot of. I think he’ll mature a lot over the summer. He’s still very backwards. He could make another nice staying hurdler.
Another horse I like is Newton Tornado. He was another who had lots of second place finishes. He was second in Cheltenham. He actually won his last race before he went out. But I'm quite excited about him next season as a Novice chaser.
Increased Competition and Impact of Mullins' Success
Q: Is the increased competition beneficial to the sport?
I wouldn't necessarily say positive. I know there's a lot of people, even old previous owners of mine, who find the whole thing a bit boring now. You can't have the same sort of bets you used to have at Cheltenham.
It's not the same sort of competition, but at the same time, I think the competition's at such an elite high level now that, on a horse front, it's amazing.
But I suppose for the general public, maybe when it's the same sort of trainers taking each other on, I suppose the interest has gone slightly there a bit.
Q: Has your training philosophy evolved over the last few seasons, especially considering the changing nature of National Hunt racing?
I don't think I've changed too much as a trainer in our day to day, the care of the horses, things like that. But I think one big thing that's been massive for me is changing the depth of my gallops.
I know the way Willie [Mullins] trains there is very unique. His gallops are very, very deep. Ours has actually always been a similar size than his. But what I did change last summer was the depth of it.
So our gallop's now very, very deep. I say nearly the same depth of his. And so I think that is quite unique. Something different we've done, which I thought we had to, because if you carry on doing the same things every day, you're going to get the same results. So that's where we did change a lot last spring.
I just like the way you train on that. You can actually do less with them, but they do as much work, less injuries and I think with Willie’s horses, it’s a fitness that no one else can match and I feel ours are sort of similar now - they'll finish their races so well and they've just stayed consistent all year.
Q: What does having someone like Willie Mullins in the sport mean for you professionally?
Just gets in our way, doesn't he, ha!
No, it's amazing. God, he's set the bar so high, hasn’t he? It's just consistent results all the time. And he's just amazing. I know he's got obviously very good horses now. Willie can buy whatever horse he wants.
But you know, he too started from nowhere and I think it's just amazing what he achieves. No one else has ever been at that sort of level in terms of domination for the sport.
Biggest Career Influences and NAP for Cheltenham 2026
Q: Who has been your biggest influence or supporter throughout your training career?
I think the closest people to me have always been my owners. I've got a lovely pool of owners there that I suppose have been with me for a long, long time. They're almost like best friends as opposed to owners and they've always been so supportive when things have been hard.
So I’d say they’ve had the biggest impact on my career.
Q: Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring trainers hoping to one day achieve what you have?
I think just working hard is the main thing. For me, all the little one percenters add up. Anything extra you can do is what, you know, we try and do. Any little extra bit you can get out, they will add up and I think make a big difference on race day.
Q: NAP for the Cheltenham Festival 2026?
Haiti Couleurs for the Gold Cup!
