Confidence in the hotpots and a 33-1 shot 'working amazingly well' - a morning with the Mullins camp proves informative

They have come, they have seen and now they are poised to conquer.

There in front of us on the Cheltenham infield stood not one, not two but three odds-on festival favourites, State Man, Lossiemouth and Ballyburn, a trio of winners seemingly waiting to happen. As if they were not enough, the Closutton first string also featured Gaelic Warrior, Il Etait Temps, Mystical Power, Tullyhill and Embassy Gardens. So close to Tuesday's Supreme roar, it really was an extraordinary sight. 

They set foot on the gallops not long after 8am, by when the opening battalions of Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead had already exercised. Among those on duty for Elliott were Grand National-winning rider Jason Maguire and trainer Martin Keighley's 16-year-old son Freddie, fresh from recording his first point-to-point success at Beaufort on Saturday. This Sunday experience was surely no less special.