WELL, the good news coming out of Cheltenham this year, aside from the historic feats of Henry de Bromhead, Rachael Blackmore, et al., is that the jingoistic disaster of the Prestbury Cup will surely be binned forever.

If there is one thing which has riled me more than any other over the past decade at Cheltenham, it has been the ramping up of the phoney war between Ireland and Britain, as characterised by the Prestbury Cup. This non-competition reached its nadir a couple of years ago when former England bowler Phil “Two Sugars” Tufnell was drafted in as the putative captain of the British ‘team’. Don’t get me wrong, Tuffers seems a smashing bloke, and perhaps Paul Nicholls or Nicky Henderson could derive some benefit from his roll-your-own programme. But, no. Just no.