A VINTAGE Cheltenham which yielded 14 victories for horses trained on this side of the Irish Sea represents the obvious starting point for a review of the National Hunt year.

Seven of those 14 triumphs were supplied by the incomparable Willie Mullins and, not for the first time, it did seem at various points during the meeting that Mullins was taking on the home team singlehandedly. This was made all the more remarkable when one considers that in the weeks leading up Cheltenham the trainer was forced to rule out horses the calibre Faugheen, Arctic Fire and Killultagh Vic.