THE coming week will mark the conclusion of the 2018/19 National Hunt season and over the last 12 months the jumping campaign has produced more than its fair share of highs and drama.

Once again the traditional powerhouses of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott sit atop the trainer’s standings, but in a change from the previous two seasons there were many more engaging narratives apart from that pair’s long-running battle for domestic supremacy.

Given that the season will come to a close after the five-day extravaganza that is Punchestown, now is an opportune time to look back at some of the big winners from the past 12 months.

200 MARK FOR MULLINS

Firstly, pride of place must go to the aforementioned Mullins. For the second season in succession he looks set to send to reach the 200-winner mark (his tally stood at 195 heading into Kilbeggan last night), while two prizes that had proved so elusive finally came his way. On Monday the trainer laid to rest the near misses of recent years to capture his first Irish Grand National, and he did so in typically dominant style by sending out a one-two-three-five.

Just over a month previously the trainer finally laid his hands on the Cheltenham Gold Cup when Al Boum Photo and Paul Townend, who will be crowned champion jockey for the second time next Saturday after a stellar campaign, recorded a truly memorable success.

When Florida Pearl moved outside of novice company some 20 years ago it looked as though Mullins could secure a Gold Cup victory within five or six years of sending out his first Cheltenham winner. However, on six occasions the trainer had to content himself with a runner-up finish in chasing’s holy grail before his fortunes changed with Al Boum Photo. Indeed in the latter and the dashing Kemboy he has two horses that could be set to dominate the staying division for some time to come.

Princess Anne presenting Willie Mullins with a bottle of Magners after winning The Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase with Al Boum Photo (Photo Healy Racing)

TIGER ROLL’s SUCCESS

The current season will also be forever remembered as one in which Tiger Roll became one of the greats. His place in racing folklore was already assured following his Grand National victory in 2018 but in making a victorious return to Liverpool he has deservedly assumed the status of living legend.

The Liverpool spectacular is an entirely different test to the one it was when Red Rum notched up his three victories in the 1970s but to focus on that would be to totally miss the point of what Tiger Roll achieved just a few weeks ago. His back to back victories at Aintree have seen him reach a status that transcends the traditional boundaries of this sport.

Also a four-time Cheltenham Festival winner, he has truly reached iconic status and the feeling that something extraordinary could be in offing when he won the Boyne Hurdle a couple of months ago was borne out in style over the next two months.

DE BROMHEAD AND BLACKMORE

Unquestionably this season has been one to live long in the memory for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore who have formed such a dynamic and irresistible partnership. De Bromhead could well be set reach a century of winners for the season (he was lying on a tally of 97 heading into last night) having had by far his most prolific season to date and it was entirely fitting that he should be the one to provide Rachael Blackmore with a succession of big-race victories in recent weeks.

A first jockey’s championship will be out of reach for Rachael Blackmore, but she has still enjoyed a stellar season which has seen her notch up one notable achievement after another. A double at Cheltenham, a winner at Aintree and that first domestic Grade 1 on Honeysuckle last weekend have all cemented her position among the elite of her profession.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON

The spread of winners at Cheltenham this year was of a more varied variety with Martin Brassil, Ted Walsh, Gavin Cromwell all making their mark on the greatest stage of all. For Cromwell the Champion Hurdle success of Espoir D’Allen marks the pinnacle of a momentous season. As of Tuesday evening the trainer had saddled 33 winners in Ireland, and to put this tally into perspective it lies just four short of the cumulative haul recorded by Cromwell over the course of the previous four seasons.

Meanwhile, Joseph O’Brien has rapidly amassed a tremendously powerful dual-purpose string. The Melbourne Cup and Irish Derby-winning trainer ticked off another landmark when Band Of Outlaws and Early Doors provided him with a Cheltenham Festival double.

After sending out 84 winners on the flat in 2018, O’Brien had reached an identical tally over jumps by the close of the Easter Festival at Fairyhouse. To come within touching distance of a century of winners under both codes represents quite a feat.

Lastly, summer jumping was another winner. Over the last decade the calibre of horse in action through the summer months in Ireland has gone through the roof and it has been no coincidence that plenty of horses who have plied their trade through the months of June, July and August have gone on to make a notable impact at the major end-of-season Festivals.

Indeed one only has to look at the quality of the two-and-a-quarter-mile novice chase at the Galway Festival, which has been run as a Grade 3 for the last two seasons. In 2017, the race was won by the subsequent Cheltenham hero and Grand National third Rathvinden, while last August Monday’s Grade 2 scorer Rashaan edged out the Aintree Grade 1 victor Ornua, with the Topham Chase hero and dual Grade 3 winner Cadmium back in fifth.