A horse without flaws? Footpad looks simply fabulous

There were many treats over the last four days in Ireland and Britain, but for me the biggest star to emerge was Willie Mullins’ Footpad in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown on Tuesday, writes Pat Keane.

This was as near to perfection as it gets and it is surely no exaggeration to say that here is a horse who was simply born to jump fences.

Mind you, Footpad’s pedigree would certainly indicate that was not the case. I would be a long way removed from being any sort of expert when it comes to breeding, but even I can work out the horse arrived in this world to do something more exotic than flying across a series of major obstacles.