A rollercoaster jumps trainers' championship - with a big spring key to Willie Mullins' success

The British jumps trainers' championship has not so much been a tale of two halves as Ireland's champion trainer striking late with a winning goal in stoppage time.

• 'Genius' Willie Mullins makes history as first Irish trainer to win British championship for 70 years 

A string of big-race wins in the final two months of the season propelled Willie Mullins into the lead but it took until the end of January for him to even reach six figures in Britain. The early pace was instead set by Dan Skelton, who passed the £100,000 mark by the fifth week of the campaign, more than £80,000 ahead of reigning champion Paul Nicholls.

• INFOGRAPHIC: The three-way fight for the jumps' trainers title (view PDF)

By September 23, Skelton had already hit £170,000 and was £100,000 clear of Nicholls, while Mullins could have done with a couple of zeros on the end of the £571 Alvaniy earned when fourth at Newton Abbot. For the first half of the season, the picture remained much the same, with Skelton holding a healthy advantage over his old mentor Nicholls.