'Well done . . . when are you going home?' - Willie Mullins on the title race, his owners and why his travel plans are being impacted

From nowhere to nearly there, Willie Mullins is in touching distance of capping another unbelievable spring with a second British trainers' championship. He is a little more than £50,000 behind Dan Skelton before the duelling rivals have their next runners on Wednesday, and is set to have a big team at Sandown's season-ending meeting on Saturday.

Here, he discusses plenty with Irish deputy editor David Jennings, including how his owners have embraced the challenge, how injury has impacted his in-person attendance and whether there has been any banter with his title rival.

Willie Mullins on . . .

The title race capturing the imagination of the public
It’s a bit of a diversion, isn’t it? Otherwise I suppose the end of the season would be boring. I think it’s good for racing. It’s good for the sport and it will lead on nicely to the Flat programme.

His 38 entries at Sandown
Is that all? Yeah, we have a good few entered. We have tried to cover all bases and see what happens. Who knows what way things are going to go. They are all there. We will have a look at what other people might be doing and then have a look at the ground. At this time of year, you have to take all those things into account. We have got a lot of backing from all our owners, which we did last year as well. We were delighted to see it.

Lossiemouth: among Willie Mullins' potential big team at Sandown on SaturdayCredit: John Grossick Racing

His owners embracing the title challenge
I’ve had fellas ringing me up saying, 'If we can be of any help, go ahead and do it.' We are very humbled and delighted, I suppose, that people have taken it upon themselves. One owner rang me and said, 'Every time I see one of your horses running, it’s like one of my own running. We are rooting for you!' That wasn’t an Irish-based owner, either! They are really embracing it.

Travel plans for the remaining meetings
I would love to but I have a sore shoulder. I wanted to go to Plumpton. I’ve been coming to Fairyhouse on Easter Monday since I was a little fella and I would have loved to have done something different. Sitting down for a long time isn’t good for me. I probably won’t be going to Perth, but I will definitely be going to Sandown.

On last season's title-winning finale
It was brilliant, very entertaining. What surprised me is the way a lot of the crowd embraced it, whether they were Irish or English. They thought it was great fun and it added a lot to the day.

On whether there has been banter with his title rival, Dan Skelton
Ah, not really, but we wish each other luck. I’d say he will be enjoying it, too. We both have our jobs to do and we are sticking to it. I’m sure come Saturday, if it’s still in the balance, it will be good craic all right. The quote of the week was from Nick Skelton, after Aintree. He said to me: 'Well done Willie . . . when are you going home?!'

Read more:

Title rivals Willie Mullins and Dan Skelton make combined 71 entries for spectacular Sandown jumps season finale 

Dan Skelton restores £50,000 lead over Willie Mullins with across-the-card four-timer

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