Mullins would have 'loved' title draw Willie Mullins admits he would have preferred to have drawn the Irish trainers' title rather than having snatched it at the 11th hour from Gordon Elliott. The championship race went to the wire with the Closutton handler finally overhauling his great rival who had led going into last week's Punchestown Festival. Mullins said: "It was certainly relief. It was a hard-fought battle all year and I'd have loved to have been to draw with Gordon, but that's the way it is. "It was very tough on Gordon. He led all year and was 4-1 on with two days to run then our team just came alive. That's tough. He had one hand on the trophy and he will have a trophy before long. "He's a great man, a good competitor and he's been a very fair guy all season. "We've had a good tussle and I'm really disappointed for him. I wish we could have drawn. "It was a really up and down year, mostly downs. It wasn't enjoyable. Lots of things went wrong from the very start and to get a championship out of it was relief rather than enjoyment. "It was a huge team effort for our home team and for our owners as well. People rallying around and getting these horses when we needed them."
