Willie Mullins has been the dominant figure in National Hunt racing circles for some time and that has been accentuated at the Punchestown Festival when the depth of his squad becomes even more significant.

That said, as noted in this space after Cheltenham, it has been a fairly good year for breakthrough performers in the jumps’ scene, particularly among the riding fraternity. But we have also seen trainers push to new levels.

Mikey O’Sullivan, Aidan Kelly, Liam McKenna, JJ Slevin, Darragh O’Keeffe and Ben Harvey have flourished, John McConnell, Barry Connell, Tony Martin, John Ryan and Colm Murphy too.

Gavin Cromwell didn’t get on the mark at Prestbury Park this year but has had an outstanding term, as have Barry Connell, Peter Fahey, Charles Byrnes, Shark Hanlon, Philip Rothwell, Emmet Mullins and Denis Hogan. Henry de Bromhead’s string are coming into Punchestown this week in excellent form, having delivered in Cheltenham once more, and Gordon Elliott is performing to his usual high level, coming out of Aintree with three Grade 1s last weekend.

And then, regardless of who trains them, there is the majesty of the equine behemoths. What a thrill to see Galopin Des Champs back on our doorsteps for the Ladbrokes Gold Cup, which will be a quality affair if Cheltenham runner-up Bravemansgame turns up, along with Ryanair Chase winner Envoi Allen. Only three horses have done the Cheltenham-Punchestown double.

As far as I can ascertain, no horse has completed the Cheltenham-Aintree-Punchestown treble in the stayers’ hurdle division. That’s what Sire Du Berlais is on the cusp of.

And then there is the next generation. It’s a pity Supreme hero Marine Nationale doesn’t run but understandable too, given that he hadn’t even been on the track 12 months ago. But El Fabiolo and Impaire Et Passe are just two that will bring the wow factor, with a sufficient level of challenger waiting to pick up the pieces if they are unable to replicate previous levels.

And then you have the ones in the nursery. A Dream To Share has yet to jump an obstacle in public but he is regally bred and possesses a huge engine. He is trained by bona fide legend and supreme gentleman of racing John Kiely, who will be 86 on May 5, and ridden by 18-year-old John Gleeson, a Leaving Cert student who confirmed the impression he had already created of being a supreme talent with a stone cold ride in the Cheltenham Champion Bumper in the colours of JP McManus.

Gleeson was the reason the horse had gone the bumper route rather than the flat. He is the son of broadcaster Brian Gleeson, who bred and owned A Dream To Share until McManus opened the cheque book after a brilliant win at the Dublin Racing Festival. He has the class and gears for Royal Ascot but if everything goes like clockwork — a big if — he will be taking on Constitution Hill in a Champion Hurdle in 2025.

​Kiely has never had more than 20 horses on his dairy farm. He and his brother Paddy were brilliant jockeys, their family steeped in the sport at the grassroots level. But the man his family still call ‘The Kid’ has always produced when given the artillery.

The Dungarvan conditioner has claimed at least 10 Grade 1 prizes — the Racing Post doesn’t go back to when he took over the licence from his father Matt in 1974 — and won many major handicaps, including the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle. On the flat he has had some major stakes successes and landed an Irish Cesarewitch.

Carlingford Lough was his most successful horse, providing half of that top-tier return after winning the Galway Plate. That tally included two Irish Gold Cups and a Punchestown Gold Cup.

The festival has been good to Kiely. His first ever winner as a trainer came at the 1976 renewal, when his brother David did the steering on Ballymac to win the Ladies’ Cup.

He has won what is now the Race And Stay at Punchestown Champion INH Flat Race twice, with Liss A Paoraigh, who went on to be a top-class hurdler, and Sweeps Hill.

This record has been built and maintained in an era of the super trainer, with a handful of horses.

It shows what is still possible, albeit that in the eyes of the likes of Davy Russell and Denis O’Regan to name just two, Kiely is a genius and thus it isn’t fair to compare his feats with the majority of us that don’t inhabit that sphere.

After winning the Galway Hurdle with the Shay Barry-ridden Black Queen in 1998, it was another ten years before he had another runner in the race.

With 17-year-old Paul Townend in the plate, Indian Pace duly delivered.

When John Kiely brings one to the dance, even the disco kings take note.