IT was no mean feat in such a competitive Irish sporting arena that at last year’s Irish Sports People of the Year Awards, Willie Mullins took the RTÉ Sport Manager of the Year award.

Now he is on the brink of grabbing a second British trainers’ title and has the resources, on the weekend between Fairyhouse and the Irish highlight meeting of the spring at Punchestown, to send a fleet of 21 horses to the end of season finale in Sandown. In one sense it’s an amazing achievement, on the other, can it be for the good of racing?