SO the weights for the handicaps were published during the week, and there was the usual clutch of anomalies. Like, Blue Hell, rated 137 in Ireland, was given a mark of 146 in Britain.

You can talk about discrepancies in handicap systems if you like, but 9lb is more than that. Barry Connell’s horse was rated 124 when he won a handicap hurdle at the end of November. His hike then and increments since have taken him up to a mark of 137 in Ireland, 13lb higher than the mark off which he won. But if he runs in the County Hurdle, he will be racing off a mark that is 22lb higher than the mark off which he last ran, and that is an inordinately significant hike.