Nothing illustrates Willie Mullins' might more than his Punchestown record - and he's unleashing the cavalry again

We’re not short of metrics by which to illustrate the incredible ascent of Willie Mullins’ training behemoth over the past 20 years but nothing quite encapsulates the extent to which he has imposed his will on the jumps game like the Punchestown festival.

In 2003, at a time when his 2001 trainers’ championship victory remained his sole title and would do until 2008, Mullins had 19 runners across the five days. He departed with four winners.

Two years ago, the Closutton genius farmed 19 winners over the course of the week. By then, no-one was surprised at such an explicit display of firepower. On Tuesday alone, he is responsible for 21 runners.