WILLIE Mullins trained the winners of all four Grade 1 races at Leopardstown on Sunday, a repeat of his achievement at the same track the day before.

The champion trainer also saddled the winner of the closing Grade 2 mares' bumper on Sunday, bringing his Dublin Racing Festival tally to nine wins from 17 races over the weekend.

He said: “It’s been a superb weekend. You see the team in action this weekend and I’m delighted for them, I’m delighted for my owners and my staff, it’s terrific.

“It’s extraordinary, we know that. Everything has come together – we have tremendous owners who invest in Irish racing and they love it.

“It’s tremendous to have people from abroad bringing money like that into Irish racing and we’re the beneficiaries – we’re very lucky.”

Galopin Des Champs starred in the trainer’s Saturday four-timer as he defended his crown in the Irish Gold Cup, ensuring he will be a short price to do the same in the Cheltenham Gold Cup next month.

It is further evidence of the huge strength in depth that Mullins has at his disposal that he won the other three Grade 1 races on the first day with apparent second, third and even fourth strings.

The champion trainer’s nephew Danny Mullins enjoyed a treble, getting off to a flying start aboard rank outsider Dancing City in the curtain-raising Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle before landing the Spring Juvenile Hurdle and the Irish Arkle on Kargese and Il Etait Temps respectively.

On Sunday the results were a little more predictable, with State Man making it back-to-back wins in the Irish Champion Hurdle, Ballyburn justifying odds-on favouritism in the Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle and El Fabiolo cementing his status as Queen Mother Champion Chase favourite with a clear-cut win in the Dublin Chase.

The only minor upset among the four Mullins winners on day two was Fact To File’s defeat of better-fancied stablemate Gaelic Warrior in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase, with the latter exiting when well held at the final fence.

Mullins added: “You can’t get much better – it’s fantasy horse racing, isn’t it?

“We bring the horses here and as you saw a lot of our second strings won yesterday, it was amazing and Danny [Mullins] had a tremendous day.

“They’re all coming here on their merits for different owners and may the best one win on the day. You don’t know what will happen, look at Gaelic Warrior today – he was many people’s banker for the weekend and was a complete blowout. It’s not simple.”

Much has been made of Mullins’ increasing dominance on the National Hunt scene, with the fact he saddled the only two runners to go to post in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase clearly disappointing.

“It’s unfortunate,” he admitted. “Grangeclare West wasn’t right this morning and we withdrew him, I never dreamt (Gordon Elliott’s) American Mike would come out, I don’t know what happened there.

“It is unfortunate, but we run everything we can anyway. We just aim for these festivals and hope that ours turn up and as you see, they don’t all turn up.

“Yesterday we had a couple of favourites beaten, it’s racing and that’s why you have to come to the races and find out. If I was punting, I’d be losing my tonsils, I’d say!”

Asked for a particular highlight, Mullins added: “If I had to name one that stands out it would be Galopin Des Champs.

“He made his own running and then it looked like there was a race on between the second-last and the last, but once he got over the last he was outstanding.”

State Man wins again

Sunday's five-timer for the trainer was headed by State Man who registered a comfortable defence of his Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle crown.

Since falling on his first start for Willie Mullins at this track in December 2021, State Man has been the dominant force in the division in Ireland, winning nine of his next 10 outings.

His only defeat during that period came at the hands of Nicky Henderson’s Constitution Hill, who proved nine lengths too strong in the Champion Hurdle at last season’s Cheltenham Festival.

And while State Man clearly has his work cut out to turn the tables in the Cotswolds next month, he confirmed his status as the reigning champion’s biggest threat with an eighth Grade 1 victory under Paul Townend.

Having been unable to reel in his stablemate in the Matheson Hurdle in December, Impaire Et Passe this time set out to make all the running under Daryl Jacob, with State Man (2/5 favourite) his nearest pursuer.

State Man took over travelling strongly before the home turn and was always doing enough in the straight to keep a resurgent Bob Olinger at bay, with five and a half lengths separating the pair at the line.

On his Champion Hurdle bid, Mullins said: “We have our chance, State Man is out and racing and is going to go there in tip-top order. It’s all to play for.

“Everything is open. They (connections of Constitution Hill) are not going to be too worried and they’ll be confident enough they have enough in the locker to beat us no matter what we do.

“I doubt you’d be able to lock up Constitution Hill, as soon as he got one bit of daylight he’d be gone, and that wouldn’t be fair anyhow.

“All’s fair in love and war and you go and run. I don’t think there’ll be too many runners in it and a change of tactics might make all the difference.”

Mullins was impressed with State Man’s performance, but admitted the change of tactics had not worked out for Impaire Et Passe.

He added: “State Man is a lovely racehorse, himself and Galopin Des Champs, Fact To File and El Fabiolo have a lovely temperament, which is half the battle. When they’ve a good temperament, it means the trainer can train them the way they want to and the jockey can ride them the way he wants to. It makes life a lot easier for the people involved.

“I thought Christmas was his best performance up to today. Today’s race was different as we tried something different with Impaire Et Passe and he obviously didn’t enjoy being out in front. I think he’d take a lead and probably needs another half-mile and fences down the road.

“It was an experiment to go down the Champion Hurdle route with him this year, but it doesn’t look like it’s working. That (Aintree Hurdle) could be on the cards, but the Champion Hurdle is there and there’s only two horses in front of him for me and any one of those could get injured or run bad on the day and if you’re not in you can’t win it.”