IT may be that, in the back of your head there is this notion that Willie Mullins perhaps did not have as successful a Punchestown Festival as he usually has.

That may be down to the fact that he was so strong in Britain this year, that he was so strong at Aintree and at Sandown this year, as well as, obviously, at Cheltenham as always. Or it may be down to the fact that Yorkhill and Vautour and Outlander all got beaten on the first day, and that the shadows of those defeats were difficult to shake even as the week progressed.