Mullins not afraid to pitch aces against each other

THE Dublin Racing Festival owns a perfect slot in the jumps calendar. Close enough to Cheltenham for the form to mean something, but not too close for trainers to get twitchy with March in mind. Willie Mullins will tell you that.

Some will argue that the DRF has a problem with Mullins. His recent domination of this fixture brings an unhealthy predictability. While he missed out on the two main prizes 12 months ago, any frustration was tempered by the six other Grade 1 victories he amassed. And that was no flash in the pan, having achieved the very same feat the previous year. Staggeringly, he has captured 30 of the 75 races since the inaugural festival in 2018. His prize-money yield over the two days last year amounted to €756,000, more than any other trainer outside of the other big three (Gordon Elliott, Henry de Bromhead and Joseph O’Brien) had amassed during the entire season up to that point. Outside the fab four, only Tony Martin, Stuart Crawford and Enda Bolger tasted success at Leopardstown.

You can understand why Noel Meade and Jessica Harrington admitted defeat in their battle against the immovable object that is Team Mullins and made a concerted decision to focus on the Flat.

Nobody would begrudge Mullins anything, but the game would clearly be in a better place if the spoils were spread about a bit more. Not that Mullins will give two hoots about that.

When his supremacy is to remain a constant for the foreseeable future, we can at least take heart in the sporting generosity of the man and those who pay him to deliver results.

Last year he had a monstrous turnout of 41 horses at the DRF with only two of the handicaps passing him by. It speaks volumes that all seven of his winners had to repel at least one familiar face from the same yard.

Galopin Des Champs, Sir Gerhard, Facile Vega and Chacun Pour Soi were all odds-on, but Minella Cocooner was an 11-1 chance, and both Vauban and Blue Lord, while fancied at 9-4 and 5-2 respectively, were by no means standout stable number ones.

The bottom line is that Mullins runs each horse on its merits and in the races that suit them, irrespective of an inevitable clash of interests.

Those who bemoan his superiority should ask themselves how the Dublin Racing Festival would shape up were he to consider a more selective approach. Then it would have an issue. If Mullins is a problem, I guess it’s a nice one to have.