THE upside of an early Easter this year – as well as the fact that you get to eat chocolate again earlier in the year than you could ever have imagined – is that Fairyhouse is early, therefore you can have a nice break after running at the Irish National meeting before preparing for Punchestown. The downside is that it makes Cheltenham and Aintree tricky for Fairyhouse horses.

There are implications. For example, it means that the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham may not be the Irish National pointer that it often is.