THE Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) represents those who own and/or operate Ireland’s 26 racecourses nationwide. AIR would like to start this week’s column by taking a moment to congratulate everyone in Cheltenham last week; what a festival!

Massive congratulations to all the winning connections, owners, trainers and jockeys and to the team at Cheltenham Racecourse for the exhilarating festival that kept us all hanging on to the edge of our seats. Apart from the obvious highlights, well covered in The Irish Field, the ground, facilities and track management were excellent.