This is the first time that the Co Longford venue has hosted the opening round of the league and it is set to be its last.

Harold McGahern announced the winding up of the FEHL in a letter to this paper back in March and its loss to the calendar will be widely felt, particularly when the benefits of its training programme were seen this year through graduates Bay My Hero and Paulank Brockagh winning the four-star Rolex Kentucky and Badminton horse trials.