Elliott's rapid century offers more evidence that title tilt may not be far away

The superstar firepower of Willie Mullins understandably dominates the spotlight in Irish jump racing, but his biggest rival has quietly been having one of his strongest ever starts to a season.

While Protektorat and ground-related matters at Ascot were making headlines on Saturday, Gordon Elliott was in red-hot form at Punchestown, where he struck with a quality four-timer.

It was an afternoon's work that took his haul for the Irish jumps season to 100 winners – the joint-second fastest century in his career. He had rattled the crossbar with no fewer than 16 seconds in the previous fortnight, with his only earlier triple-digit total coming on November 16 in 2017.