AS a fine autumn day unfolds in Closutton, barn manager and work rider Imran Haider is all smiles aboard an elegant Energumene, despite the celebrations the night before receiving his Irish Thoroughbred Industry Employee Award to rapturous applause from his colleagues.

Willie Mullins is in fine form too, revelling in the chaos of the simultaneous arrival of two new puppies and four ducks at the yard: “It takes a bit of management,” he says.