MICHAEL O’Leary has continued his war of words with British jumps handicapper Phil Smith yesterday.

The Gigginstown House Stud boss is furious over the weight allocated to Don Poli in the Aintree Grand National. The horse’s National weight equates to a rating of 165, which Smith says has been “compressed” by 2lb in accordance with his policy of encouraging high-class horses to run in the race.

But in a letter sent to several newspapers O’Leary says that Smith should have dropped Don Poli by at least a further 4lb – as the Irish handicapper has done - following the horse’s three defeats already this season.

Suggesting that Smith has been biased against Irish horses, O’Leary asks: “Is this policy change driven by the fact that the top five rated horses are Irish trained?” He described Smith’s explanation of the allocated weight as “contradictory and nonsensical”.

O’Leary also believes two other Gigginstown entries, Outlander and Empire Of Dirt, have been similarly discriminated against.

Although O’Leary won the Grand National last year with Rule The World, he is still haunted by the death of Hear The Echo in the 2009 edition of the race and believes the “excessive weight” the horse was asked to carry was a significant factor in the horse’s demise.

O’Leary concluded “In the interest of both transparency and horse welfare, Outlander, Empire Of Dirt and Don Poli all of whom have been marked up (not compressed) by Mr Smith, will not run in this year’s Grand National under these raised weights.”

Within minutes of O’Leary’s press statement being circulated, the British Horseracing Authority replied on behalf of Smith.

“Far from making it up as I go along, my approach to the Grand National weights has been consistent for the past 18 years,” Smith said.

“This year has been no different in terms of my approach or in the level of compression. Last year there was a 2lbs compression for horses at the top of the weights apart from Many Clouds (who only got 1lb).

This year that compression is exactly the same.

“For example, Don Poli was agreed on 165 in the Anglo-Irish Jumps Classification in May. He has since been 2nd in the Lexus and 3rd in the Irish Gold Cup and was due to run off 163. A 2lb reduction seems more than fair. Last year he was due to run off 164 and carry 11st 9lb. Since then he has been placed in five Grade 1s and is now due to run off 163 and carry 11st 7lb.

“We have maintained our own set of marks at the BHA for Irish-trained horses for 15 years. In total, my team spend around 18 hours a week keeping these up-to-date.

“The reason we do this is consistency and fairness. It means that whether a horse is trained in Britain or Ireland, it is the same people using the same handicapping system that sets its mark when it races in Britain.

“We do this because we want our handicaps to be as competitive and fair as possible. And it is no reflection on the competence or accuracy of the handicappers in Ireland.

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Over the last eight seasons, in all handicaps in Britain, 11% is the Irish strike-rate and 10% is the UK strike-rate. I’ve no problem with it being higher, they wouldn’t run one out of the handicap with no chance, for instance, but it’s amazing that we’ve been able to keep it consistent for so long.”

Rory Delargy >>A11

Weights Launch >>A24-26

Donn McClean >>B3