IT IS great that the British horses came to Punchestown. It may not be quite of Cheltenham-and-the-Irish proportions, but the presence of the visitors adds an extra dimension to Punchestown that is unquestionably an enhancement. It’s peerless Punchestown, not parochial Punchestown.

And they didn’t fare too badly either.

At the time of writing, Colin Tizzard had won the BoyleSports Champion Chase with Fox Norton, Harry Fry won the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers Hurdle with Unowhatimeanharry, and Neil Mulholland had won the Kildare Post Bumper with Dead Right. And they may not be finished yet.

The handicappers haven’t done too badly either so far. The raiders had the 1-2-3 in the Guinness Handicap Chase on Wednesday with the Colin Tizzard pair Sizing Granite and Viconte Du Noyer finishing first and second, and the Rebecca Curtis-trained Irish Cavalier chasing them home. And they had the 1-2 in the Shamrock Enterprises Handicap Hurdle on Thursday, with the Harry Fry-trained Minella Awards beating the Philip Hobbs-trained No Comment.

British horses plunder Irish handicaps, shocker.