Grade 1 bonanza for Willie Mullins at Dublin Racing Festival in Leopardstown

It was the biggest weekend of the Irish National Hunt season and although the weather did its best to spoil the party, the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown still had some cracking action.

With Day 1 of the festival on Saturday postponed until Monday, the hugely popular weekend had a bit of a different look with the majority of the sizeable overseas visitors gone home and the crowd figure took a hit as a result.

Between the two days , there was over 28k attendees with a near sellout on Sunday followed by a respectable 10,000 onlookers on the Monday as organisers at the Foxrock venue made the best of a difficult situation.

After bucket loads of rain in the build-up to the meeting, conditions proved very difficult but the racing was still of the thrilling variety.

There was eight Grade 1 contests over the course of the two days with Irish equine stars on show everywhere you looked.

After a less than stellar Christmas period for the Willie Mullins stable, the likelihood was that the Closutton maestro would always bounce back here and he certainly did as he trained five Grade 1 winners over the course of the festival.

While that is nothing to be sniffed at, it still didn’t go all to plan with the well fancied Final Demand, Lossiemouth and Galopin Des Champs all turned over with favourite chances.

As tends to happen when the spring festivals come into view, the Mullins strength in depth really came to the fore and this was more than evident when he saddled the first three home in the feature Irish Gold Cup.

Read More- Celebrations galore at Kilkenny pub following the Thyestes Chase in Gowran Park

Dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs was looking to win the race for a record equalling fourth year in succession and while the 10 year-old put in a big showing in third spot, his younger stablemates Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File proved too good with the JP McManus Fact To File racing to an impressive victory.

Mark Walsh was aboard the winner as he made up for a disappointing outing in the King George at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day and much of the weekend centred around the Kildare jockey as he rode four winners which all came for the Mullins stable.

Walsh got the ball rolling on Sunday when Kaid D’Authie pressured the 3-10 favourite Final Demand into submission to run out a 4 1/4 length winner in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase over 2m5f.

It throws open the ante-post book for the Cheltenham Festival in the staying novice chase division with Final Demand’s loss where he only finished in third spot coming as quite the surprise.

The second of the Willie Mullins top level wins then arrived in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase and arguably it was the standout display of the two days as Majborough ran out an incredible 19 length winner with Queen Mother Champion chase winner Mariine Nationale a distant second.

The use of cheek pieces proved to be a gamechanger for the JP McManus owned youngster as his jumping drastically improved in a dominant and decisive win that throws up a number of options for the future.

“That’s the real Majborough,” a jubilant Mullins said after the race. “The cheekpieces were a bit helpful, and he jumped brilliantly in front.

“He’s won on good ground, and he's won on heavy, so I’m hopeful (for Cheltenham).”

Of the other two Grade 1s on the Sunday, the Gordon Elliott trained Brighterdaysahead shocked Lossiemouth in the Champion Hurdle while Joseph O’Brien also got on the board when Talk to Talk got up on the line to win the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle.

A short head was the final winning margin and it was timely in more ways than one after the five year-old fell at the final flight when victory looked within his reach over Christmas.

JJ Slevin gave the 3-1 favourite a very patient ride and after a flying jump at the last, he got the better of Gordon Elliott’s Ballyfad in the shadow of the post.

It continues the Owning Hill handler’s remarkable run of top level wins despite he’s limited stable of national hunt stars.

The rescheduled Monday meeting almost turned into a Willie Mullins benefit with Narciso Has and Doctor Steinberg winning the first two Grade 1s on the card in addition to Fact to File’s Gold Cup success.

In a rare weekend where a lot didn’t drop his way, Paul Townend’s sole trip to the winners circle came aboard Doctor Steinberg when running out an eight length winner of the trappy Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle in heavy conditions over 2m6f.

A half an hour later, there was another Mullins Grade 1 over the smaller obstacles with Narciso Has hardening in the betting for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham after he coasted to success in the Gannon's City Recovery & Recycling Services Juvenile Hurdle.

It was almost a grand slam of Grade 1s for Mullins on the day after Kargese narrowly lost out to Romeo Coolio in the Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase which rounded off a cracking weekend of action in Dublin.