Champagne time as Mullins saves Irish blushes

It really has been Willie Mullins versus the entire British empire this week.

Again it was a case of the Carlow-based maestro saving our blushes when Champagne Fever, ridden by his son, Patrick, made virtually all of the running to land the Weatherbys’ Champion Bumper — the race which marked the halfway point of the Festival.

On Tuesday Mullins’ Quevega was our only winner and this is rapidly becoming a disastrous festival for the Irish.