This time next week we will have completed half of the British Champions Weekend of racing, and we will also know the outcome of the Budget. Hopefully both will be good news for racing.

There is a huge nervousness amid the uncertainty that faces our industry in the run-up to the Budget. Hopefully that will prove to be wasted energy when we hear the details announced next Tuesday. The messages have been clearly communicated to various Ministers in the Government and now we can only wait in hope that they have listened and learned.

The successful outcome of the Irish Champions Weekend will no doubt be a focus for discussion when the racedays at Newmarket and Ascot next Friday and Saturday are reviewed. The quality of both cards will be examined in detail, especially in light of the two major racing weekends in Ireland and France.

One does have to wonder whether the authorities would not be better to hold this week’s cards on Saturday and Sunday. The arguments for retaining the present arrangements would be interesting to hear.

It is good to look again at Irish Champions Weekend now that we are a little removed from it, and Harry McCalmont issued an invitation, though the pages of this paper, to the public to give them feedback. I hope that the invitation is accepted.

The quality of the group races at Leopardstown and the Curragh was at the upper end of the scale in my opinion and victories for both The Grey Gatsby and Free Eagle propelled them upwards on the world ranking table and both are in the top 50. In Ireland that weekend we staged half of the group races contested in the four major European racing countries over the two-day period. It was the busiest weekend of racing in Europe since the establishment of the pattern system over 40 years ago.

With an expanding programme of group races, and so many alternatives for the best runners, we should take extra pride in the fact that our programme proved to be so popular. Its position three weeks before the Arc weekend and five weeks before the British weekend should help to see it grow even more in terms of quality and popularity.

Free Eagle’s win in a Group 3 was enough to see him rated the equal of or just behind a number of this year’s classic winners. His next start at Ascot on Saturday in the Champion Stakes is eagerly anticipated, as will his future racing career.