Mullins has a great Gold Cup winner but also the pretenders to his crown - it's no surprise he thinks that's 'awesome'

A Cheltenham Festival that at times has fallen short of spectacular was crying out for a great Gold Cup and a great Gold Cup winner. One hundred years on from its inauguration, this sport's most coveted prize was called upon to deliver something special. What we got was a wonderful horserace won by a magnificent horse.

Not every festival can be vintage, for if it were the description would be meaningless. This has been a meeting troubled by small fields, foul weather and sinking cars, one where attendances and some championship performances have slipped below traditional standards. Yet for its final day, this sport's most treasured celebration gave us something to remember as Galopin Des Champs assured himself the legendary status his extraordinary trainer long since attained.

It would be wrong to deny that Willie Mullins' domination of jump racing may be one of the contributory factors to the festival's troubles. Nine of the week's 27 contests were plundered by a trainer who was always going to hoover up a host of showpiece events and duly did, with five of his winners sent off at odds-on. Galopin Des Champs was fifth of the five, yet although 10-11 in the betting he was faced with numerous credible opponents. He proved wholly superior to all of them, in the process becoming a dual winner of the Gold Cup, the Boodles-backed treasure Mullins and Paul Townend have now won four times in the last six years.