'Paul is up there with the best of them' - Mullins hails quiet excellence of jockey Townend

“He doesn't come across as a big personality, I imagine, publicity-wise, but he doesn't seek it and he's very quiet himself and that's his nature and always has been. And I think that could be a feature of his riding as well that he just gets on and does things right," the top trainer says of the Corkman.

Trainer Willie Mullins pictured at the launch of the National Hunt Season at this yard. Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

As a long-suffering Manchester United, Willie Mullins knows better than most that replacing one sporting great with another is a challenge fraught with difficulty.

Happily for the 20-time champion trainer, the transition from Ruby Walsh to Paul Townend has proven far more seamless than United’s attempts to find a worthy successor for Alex Ferguson.