BACK around Christmas time my colleagues in Irish Thoroughbred Marketing suggested January and February might constitute a ‘quieter’ period for the team. I’m not so sure about their version of ‘quiet’ anymore. The tempo never seems to slacken very much in these quarters and now we have to find another gear with the big jumps festivals and the new flat season around the corner.

Perhaps the most public exposure we have had since the turn of the year was the ITM Stallion Trail, which had a job to match the success of its inaugural year in 2015, but consensus says that was achieved.