With a stacked squad across the weekend, there is value in looking beyond Mullins’ favourites for a stable companion

Willie Mullins completed a clean sweep of the eight Grade One races at the Dublin Racing Festival in 2024 and Ireland’s perennial champion trainer is odds-on to win at least seven this time around, not least because Gordon Elliott, the current leader in the title race, has opted to steer several of his stable stars away from the two-day meeting.

The strength and depth of Mullins’s squad across the weekend is extraordinary. On Friday afternoon, there were 21 horses priced up at single-figure odds for the DRF’s Grade One events – and all but three will carry a “WPM” saddlecloth.