ON the face of it, the annual weights reveal for the 2024 Cheltenham Festival handicaps appeared largely positive for Irish entries.

It is always an informative juncture in the Festival countdown to see how the visiting team’s handicap hopes are treated by the British Horseracing Authority’s handicapping team, spotting which Irish runners are best and worst treated at the weights.

For those who don’t tend to follow the handicap scene as closely as the Grade 1 races at Cheltenham, to briefly explain the background, Irish horses do not automatically get to run off their Irish handicap ratings in Britain and instead are rated separately by the BHA handicappers. These British ratings are usually higher than the marks held by Irish horses on home soil, therefore making life much tougher for some horses at Cheltenham than would be the case if racing domestically.

These British ratings have caused controversy in the past. A high-profile example came when connections of Dallas Des Pictons decided against running him at the Festival after being handed a 12lb higher rating in Britain in 2020.

However, what must be stressed to anyone taking a deep dive into the Irish ratings is how the handicapping team in Britain has been treating British runners in recent seasons. There has been no secret made over the fact that British ratings were allowed to become inflated over at least a decade and there has been a concerted effort to counteract that over the last couple of years.

This can involve handing out lower introductory ratings to young horses in Britain than might have been the case previously, and quicker handicap drops for more established horses who are not performing strongly.

Regardless of how the BHA handicappers deal with Irish horses, a kinder approach to the British entries on the whole absolutely needs to be factored in for those assessing the handicaps.

Back to this year’s weights. For the purpose of analysing the treatment of Irish horses compared to previous Festivals, it is probably best to break down the marks to handicap chasers, non-juvenile handicap hurdlers and juvenile handicap hurdlers, as is done below.

AFTER a disappointing return for Irish runners in handicap chases at the 2022 Festival when all four of these races were won by British runners, there was a fightback from these shores in 2023.

Fastorslow was just touched off in the Ultima by handicap blot Corach Rambler, Maskada and Dinoblue finished one-two in the Grand Annual, Seddon caused a 20/1 upset in the Plate and Angels Dawn led home a clean sweep of the first seven places in the Kim Muir for Ireland. In 2022, Ireland’s handicap chase entries were rated an average of 3.8lb higher in Britain than at home, and last year’s strong returns came when the average was lower at 3lb.

This time around, the 2024 handicap chase entries are generally 2.3lb higher for Irish runners - nearly identical to the differential in 2021. That is encouraging for the visitors, but the more lenient treatment of many British runners than would have been the case before obviously must be remembered before anyone gets carried away.

As for individual cases, the five Irish handicap chasers who were worst treated in this week’s reveal were Read To Return (11lb higher but unlikely to get a run anyway), leading Kim Muir fancy Good Time Jonny (10lb higher), Fils D’oudairies, Perceval Legallois (both 7lb higher) and Chavez (6lb higher).

A dozen Irish horses were essentially left on the same mark as they hold in Ireland: Ain’t That A Shame, Ash Tree Meadow, Bronn, Busselton, Daily Present, Diol Ker, Hereditary Rule, Jungle Boogie, Macs Charm, Minella Cocooner, Whacker Clan and Where It All Began.

IRISH-trained runners won seven of the eight non-juvenile handicap hurdles across the 2021 and 2022 Cheltenham Festival, but it was a much different story 12 months ago.

British representatives claimed all bar one of the senior handicap hurdles at last year’s meeting, though there were some Irish near misses. An Epic Song failed by just a head in the Coral Cup, as did Pied Piper in the County Hurdle.

In 2022 and 2023, Irish-trained handicap hurdlers (excluding juveniles) were an average of 4.9lb and 4.3lb higher in the Cheltenham entries. For visiting connections, it is certainly encouraging to see this year’s average differential drop to 2.9lb.

The worst treated in Britain were Black Bamboo (7lb higher and unlikely to get in), Popova, Western Fold (both 7lb higher), Foxy Jacks, Gabbys Cross, Starzov and Waterford Whispers (all 6lb higher).

A difference in how British and Irish handicappers interpret French ratings means Ocastle des Mottes is technically 4lb lower in Britain than would be the case in Ireland - a real rarity - while Champion Hurdle-bound Colonel Mustard is also intriguingly 2lb lower in Britain than home.

There were seven horses effectively left on their Irish marks in the non-juvenile handicap hurdles, including big-handicap fancies Sa Majeste and King Of Kingsfield. The remaining five were Finest Evermore, Magic Tricks, Mighty Tom, Party Central and Thedevilscoachman.

IRISH trainers have scooped the last six runnings of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle and supplied six of the first seven home last season, so how the British handicapping team addressed this year’s Irish-trained four-year-olds was always going to be interesting.

The average differential for juveniles has fluctuated plenty in recent times: 4.5lb (2020), 2.9lb (2021), 3.3lb (2022) and 5.4lb (2023).

With Irish four-year-olds enjoying a bumper Cheltenham last year - including supplying the first 10 home in the Triumph - it can be viewed as a slight surprise that the visitors are an average of 2.9lb higher than their home marks this year (down from 5.4lb in 2023).

The juveniles who were hit hardest in the reveal were Spinning Web (7lb higher), Kala Conti, Barrier, Palamon, Pigeon House (all 5lb higher), Eagles Reign and Tranquil Sea (both 4lb higher).

Three were assigned the same mark in Britain as Ireland, most interestingly the Willie Mullins-trained Batman Girac. Gordon Elliott supplied the other two: Hey Whatever (unlikely to get in) and Kaleosun.

WHEN breaking down the Irish handicap entries on a trainer-by-trainer basis, it’s intriguing to note that Willie Mullins’ non-juvenile handicap hurdle team have been better treated on the whole compared to Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead’s entries.

Mullins’ handicap hurdlers (excluding four-year-olds) had an average differential of 3.2lb, 3.9lb and 3.8lb in the last three years, but this time around his string has gone up by an average of 0.6lb in Britain.

The average is slightly impacted by Ocastle des Mottes being down 4lb with the BHA, but even when excluding him from the sample, the Mullins average is 1.3lb. Elliott comes in at 3lb extra per senior handicap hurdler, while de Bromhead is at 3.9lb more.

Over fences, it’s interesting to note that Gavin Cromwell, who has had a terrific season with his visits to Britain, has seen his handicap chasers treated tougher than any of the other three trainers mentioned.

The average handicap chase differential for Cromwell is 2.6lb, compared to 2.4lb for de Bromhead, 1.9lb for Elliott and 1.4lb for Mullins, who has still yet to win a handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival. That itch is one he would surely love to scratch in 2024.