Racing Post

THE LESSONS TO LEARN

IF THE history of the Dublin Racing Festival, or Grade 1 races in Ireland in general after the new year tells us anything, it’s that you don’t need to be wrapped up in cotton wool to have a chance of glory at the Cheltenham Festival.

The five horses who ran there and went on to Cheltenham glory were joined by six others who ran second in March having first strutted their stuff at Leopardstown in February, and there were plenty of other places besides.

The one baffling aspect of the DRF is the lack of ambition displayed by

British trainers, who spend their lives bemoaning the lack of prize-money in Britain but would still prefer to run for £20k in a Mickey Mouse race at home rather than race for a decent prize in Ireland.

Given the roll of honour of the Irish Champion Hurdle it’s somewhat understandable that the Brits rarely challenge (their last winner was in 1996), but the Irish Gold Cup has been won by some average horses since Neptune Collonges won for Paul Nicholls in 2009 and there have been just eight British runners in it since.

The meeting is the perfect distance away from Cheltenham and is rarely run on desperate ground these days – indeed, there have been times when the course has needed watering – and there is no reason why a British horse can’t contend there and do well at Cheltenham.

Their regular presence is all that is missing from what is still a fantastic experience for the racegoer, though, and one you should make an effort to go to if you haven’t done so already.

THE BIG JUMP OFF

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2022-10-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

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Racing Post