It’s just the second running of the Dublin Racing Festival but it could be a while before we have a more important renewal. In this peculiar season of peculiar seasons, the ground has made things difficult for owners and trainers, lessening the opportunities to run horses and so for many this is last-chance saloon territory pre-Cheltenham.

But to label this weekend as a Cheltenham curtain opener would be entirely wrong. There is prestige and prize money to be raced for right now. Last year, this festival provided the moment of the season when Edwulf completed a truly remarkable comeback in the Irish Gold Cup. That was a capstone moment for a successful first running of this concept. The atmosphere was good, the crowds were good and the racing was brilliant. Eight Cheltenham Festival winners emerged out of Dublin that weekend, yet interestingly only three of them were winners at both meetings, so it’s not all doom and gloom if your horse gets beaten today or tomorrow.