Willie Mullins: 'What drives me? I've got to make a living'

Taking a left-field look, Mullins is also asked if he could offer any advice to Pep Guardiola as his Manchester City team struggles to maintain its position atop the football world

Trainer Willie Mullins.

Life at the top of the sporting world tends to be fleeting. All the vital cogs that must work in unison to make that ascent to the apex tend to wear over time and when one fails to operate to its full potential, the load on the remainder inevitably leads to a collapse of the machine.

The period on top depends on the chief engineer, the one overseeing operations, and in Willie Mullins, the Closutton team has a man who has steered his team to heights never previously achieved in National Hunt racing, and one who, at 68, remains as determined as ever to remain there.