Mullins gives Leopardstown his seal of approval - but there's no room for error

A year after Willie Mullins’ scathing condemnation of the prevailing ground situation at Leopardstown, jump racing’s most influential individual appears to be embracing a more favourable stance in the lead-up to next month’s Dublin Racing Festival.

On Monday, Mullins committed strongly to aiming Galopin Des Champs at the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, which constitutes a vote of confidence in the Dublin venue’s urgent objective of providing suitably safe winter ground for heavy-topped chasers.

It’s the kind of implicit seal of approval that officials at Leopardstown will have craved, because a year ago they had failed to convince some of the game’s biggest players that they had got a handle on the issue.