Willie Mullins feeling both dread and excitement before Cheltenham

Willie Mullins has admitted to feeling a mixture of dread and excitement as he prepares to unleash a scarcely believable army of equine talent on the Cheltenham Festival.

It is 20 years since the master of Closutton first struck gold at the greatest show on turf, with Tourist Attraction a 25-1 winner of Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Despite descending from esteemed National Hunt stock as son of the great Paddy Mullins, trainer of the remarkable Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup-winning mare Dawn Run, few could have guessed at that stage Willie would go on to become the all-time leading Irish trainer at the Festival, with 33 successes to his name so far.