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Show Jumping – Allegations raised of unauthorised training methods

The FEI is aware of the allegations made in the documentary broadcast on RTL in Germany on 11 January 2022 and is making enquiries regarding the matter. We are already in touch with the German National Federation and will continue to liaise closely with them in order to assess the appropriate course of action.

Ludger Beerbaum

German broadcaster RTL sent videos into the world showing Ludger Beerbaum poling his horses during training. RTL itself collaborated with investigative journalist Günter Wallraff for this report.

Together they worked for two years on an investigation into unauthorized training methods in equestrian sports and violations of animal protection laws.

The welfare of the horse is central to everything that the FEI stands for and we strongly condemn all training methods and practices that are contrary to horse welfare. The FEI has stringent rules in place to protect horse welfare which allow action to be taken both at FEI Events and elsewhere. The FEI absolutely condemns any form of horse abuse and the training methods shown in RTL’s video footage are totally unacceptable from a horse welfare perspective and against FEI Regulations.

The FEI General Regulations (GRs) Article 142 state: No person may abuse a Horse during an Event or at any other time. “Abuse” means an action or omission which causes or is likely to cause pain or unnecessary discomfort to a Horse, including, but not limited to:
(vi) To “rap” a Horse.

Article 243.1 of the FEI Jumping rules states: All forms of cruel, inhumane or abusive treatment of Horses, which include, but are not limited to various forms of rapping, are strictly forbidden. Article 243.2.1 goes on to give a non-exhaustive description of what the FEI considers as “rapping”.

The FEI will provide an update as soon as further information is available.

Entries list of possible runners in 2022 Queen Mother Champion Chase

Entries list of possible runners in 2022 Queen Mother Champion Chase. There are 22 entries with 11 of them Irish.

Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1) 1m 7f 199y – Wednesday 16th March

Allaho (FR) 8 Cheveley Park Stud Willie Mullins IRE

Allmankind 6 The Gredley Family Dan Skelton

Battleoverdoyen (IRE) 9 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE

Captain Guinness (IRE) 7 Declan Landy Henry de Bromhead IRE

Chacun Pour Soi (FR) 10 Mrs S. Ricci Willie Mullins IRE

Dunvegan (FR) 9 G. Turner/Clipper Logistics Group Ltd Pat Fahy Ireland IRE

Editeur du Gite (FR) 8 The Preston Family, Friends & T Jacobs Gary Moore

Energumene (FR) 8 Tony Bloom Willie Mullins IRE

Envoi Allen (FR) 8 Cheveley Park Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE

First Flow (IRE) 10 Mr A. N. Solomons Kim Bailey

Funambule Sivola (FR) 7 My Racing Manager Friends Venetia Williams

Greaneteen (FR) 8 Chris Giles Paul Nicholls

Hardline (IRE) 10 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE

Hitman (FR) 6 Mason, Hogarth, Ferguson & Done Paul Nicholls

Notebook (GER) 9 Gigginstown House Stud Henry de Bromhead IRE

Nube Negra (SPA) 8 Mr T. Spraggett Dan Skelton

Politologue (FR) 11 Mr J. Hales Paul Nicholls

Put The Kettle On (IRE) 8 One For Luck Racing Syndicate Henry de Bromhead IRE

Rouge Vif (FR) 8 Kate & Andrew Brooks Paul Nicholls

Samcro (IRE) 10 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE

Sceau Royal (FR) 10 Mr Simon Munir & Mr Isaac Souede Alan King

Shishkin (IRE) 8 Mrs J Donnelly Nicky Henderson

22 entries

11 Irish-trained

 

Schedule for Release of Entries for the 2022 Cheltenham Festival

The excitement is building for the 2022 Cheltenham Festival and we have the release dates for the entries of the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, and all other races.

Tuesday 4th January

Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase, Ryanair Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup

Scratchings: Tuesday 8th February

 

Tuesday 11th January

Unibet Champion Hurdle, Close Brothers’ Mares’ Hurdle, Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle

Scratchings: Tuesday 8th February

Tuesday 18th January

Sporting Life Arkle Novices’ Chase, National Hunt Chase, Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, Turners Novices’ Chase

Scratchings: Tuesday 15th February

Tuesday 25th January

Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, JCB Triumph Hurdle, Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle

Scratchings: Tuesday 15th February

 

Tuesday 15th February

Parnell Properties Novices’ Mares’ Hurdle, Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase

Tuesday 22nd February

Ultima Handicap Chase, Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle, Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Handicap Chase, Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, Paddy Power Plate Handicap, Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase, McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle, Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

Weights: Tuesday 1st March

Tuesday 1st March

Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, Weatherbys Champion Bumper, St. James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase

Peter Wright is the 2022 PDC World Darts Champion

Peter Wright won the William Hill World Darts Championship for a second time as he defeated Michael Smith 7-5 in Monday’s final.

An Alexandra Palace thriller saw the lead change hands multiple times, before Wright finished strongly to lift the Sid Waddell trophy for a second time in three years, while Smith suffered a second World Championship final defeat.

Smith, seeking a first TV ranking title, was in control of the contest as he led 5-4 in sets and 2-0 in the tenth set, but Wright won nine of the next ten legs to join the list of two-time World Champions.

“I’m over the moon to lift this amazing trophy for a second time,” said Wright, a winner of three TV titles in 2021.

“It was a difficult start to the year from me away from darts but I’ve had a great year on the oche and this tops it off.

“Michael and I didn’t perform how we can for a lot of the game, but it was still an entertaining final because it was so close.

“Michael is the future of darts, I feel for him tonight because I’ve been in his position.

“But, I’ve got to take the chances I get and thankfully I was able to do that tonight.

“I can’t explain what went wrong with my game tonight, I kept swapping darts trying to find something that worked and thankfully I had a good run at the end.

“Thank you to the crowd for turning out to support us all tournament, they were amazing.”

Smith was left distraught after losing his eighth televised final in nine attempts, as his wait for a first TV ranking title goes on.

Despite his latest disappointment, the new world number five remains determined to break his duck in 2022.

“I got five sets in this time instead of three but losing these finals is doing my head in now,” said Smith. 

“Tonight will be difficult but I’ll be back on the practice board soon, getting ready for the next one.

“The bullseye shots for big finishes wouldn’t go in, that’s darts I guess.”

Smith hit 24 180s in the match to take his tournament total up to a staggering 83, smashing the previous record of 71 set by Gary Anderson at the 2016/17 tournament.

Two of those 180s came in the opening leg, though it proved to be a nervous start from both players with 23 missed double attempts between the pair in leg two.

Wright took both the opening two sets 3-1, before Smith established himself in the contest by winning the next two sets to level.

Wright regained the lead by winning the set five decider, before Smith won six of the next seven legs to lead for the first time at 4-3.

After Wright levelled once again, Smith regained the advantage by winning the ninth set and looked on course for the title as he led 2-0 in the tenth.

However, Wright came back to win the set with a tide-turning 84 finish before whitewashing Smith in the 11th set to go back in front.

The world number two continued his sprint to the finish line, with Smith powerless to stop Wright winning the 12th and final set 3-1 to seal victory.

2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship
Monday January 3 (2000 GMT)
Final
Peter Wright 7-5 Michael Smith (3-1, 3-1, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 1-3, 0-3, 3-1, 2-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1)

Heinrich Malan Ireland Men’s Head Coach

South African-born coach Heinrich Malan has been appointed the successor to Graham Ford as Head Coach for Ireland Men and will take up the role in March 2022 (subject to work permit approval) on an initial three-year contract.

 

Malan, 40, a right-handed middle-order batter and medium-fast bowler, played first-class cricket in South Africa between 2005 and 2009, representing Combined Eastern-Northerns XI and Northern Cricket Union – captaining the latter during the 2006-07 season. He played in teams that featured then-developing international cricketers Neil Wagner and Roloef van der Merwe, as well as future South African international and former CIYMS overseas professional Rassie van der Dussen.

 

Since finishing his first-class playing career, Malan has gained more than 11 years first-class coaching experience in South Africa and New Zealand. He holds a Level 3 Coaching Certificate from Cricket South Africa, and amongst his more recent roles have seen him take on Assistant Coach and Fielding Lead for the New Zealand Men’s cricket team and Head Coach of New Zealand A. He has also held the batting coach role for the Black Caps.

 

Domestically in New Zealand, Malan is the current Head of Male Performance and Head Coach of the Auckland Aces (since 2019), after a six-year stint as Head Coach and Program Director at Central District Stags. Prior to this, he was Head Coach of Eastern Cricket Union in South Africa from 2011-2013.

 

Under Malan’s leadership, his squads have collected numerous titles, including:

 

  • 2019-20: Auckland Aces – Champions, Provincial 1 Day competition (Ford Trophy)
  • 2018-19: Central District Stags – Champions, T20 Competition (Super Smash)
  • 2018-19: Central District Stags – Cham  pions, 1st Class 4-Day Competition (Plunket Shield)
  • 2017-18: Central District Stags – Champions, 1st Class 4-Day Competition (Plunket Shield)
  • 2015-16: Central District Stags – Champions, Provincial 1 Day competition (Ford Trophy)
  • 2014-15: Central District Stags – Champions, Provincial 1 Day competition (Ford Trophy)

 

 

Speaking from Auckland, Heinrich Malan said:

 

“It’s very humbling and a huge honour to be appointed Head Coach of the Ireland Men’s team. We have an exciting squad that has demonstrated that they have the ability to compete with the best players around the world. It is an exciting challenge and something that we, as a family, are really looking forward to.”

 

“A lot of credit has to go to Graham Ford, who has done a stellar job over the last four years. We have some serious building blocks in place which I believe we can build on going forward.”

 

“My coaching philosophy has certainly evolved over time and I am very keen to get to know this group of players and staff to collaboratively shape our environment through the way we want to operate on a daily basis. The ‘wheel’ in Irish cricket is turning nicely for the stage it is at, but this point in time is a great opportunity to review what – and how – we are operating to not only grow the wheel, but make that wheel turn quicker.”

 

“While I came up through the South African system, the opportunity to move to New Zealand in 2013 really enhanced my coaching experiences and created opportunities to progress my coaching career. Hopefully, I can share these experiences and help our players improve and compete consistently across formats. And that is the key – to create greater consistency of performance over the long term.”

 

 

Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said:

 

“We are delighted to have secured Heinrich as men’s Head Coach and look forward to supporting him in taking the international men’s side forward during what will be an extremely busy period for the squad.

 

“Heinrich has worked in world-class environments at international and domestic levels, and has forged a reputation as an innovative coach with an interest and willingness to do things differently – taking a more holistic view of the game. He is an advocate for sports science, and an intense interest in developing players – particularly in preparing them for the international stage. He has demonstrated a passion for coaching that delves into the feeder systems which lead to sustainable and successful programmes, which is perfectly aligned with what we have been establishing piece-by-piece over recent years. Heinrich is additionally keen to help develop coaches within our Performance system in order to help grow a pathway for Irish coaches to reach senior levels.

 

“Despite coming from outside the Irish system, Heinrich clearly articulated an understanding of the Irish cricket identity, and is determined to succeed in bonding the senior squad around these ideals, then flow those ideals down the pathway system. He fully understands the development stage we are at as a new Full Member, and is clear on the goals of the organisation – but is committed to working hard on building a skilled and confident squad that is competitive with the world’s leading sides.

 

“We know that a key focus for us in the short-term is white-ball cricket, and it is the insights, experience and success that Heinrich has garnered in the shorter formats that we believe will benefit our squad greatly.

 

“We look forward to Heinrich starting in March, with his first task being to prepare the squad for the Zimbabwe tour.”

 

 

A full-time coaching support team will be put in place over coming months.

 

Graham Rowntree Signs Munster Contract Until June 2024

Munster Rugby Forwards Coach Graham Rowntree has signed a two-year contract extension that will see him remain with the province until at least June 2024.

The former England prop made the move to Limerick in October 2019 on completion of his Rugby World Cup coaching duties with Georgia Rugby.

With an impressive coaching CV and vast experience, he previously held coaching roles with the British and Irish Lions, England Rugby, Harlequins and Leicester Tigers.

Commenting on the contract news, Graham Rowntree said, “I am delighted to be committing my future to Munster Rugby.

“I have made my thoughts about this club widely known throughout my time so far, and for me and my family it really has been an easy decision, a non-decision if truth be told. We’ve put down roots here and have no desire to move anywhere else.

“I know there will be coaching personnel changes at the end of this season but from where I’m standing, I know that we have everything in place for continued development and success.

“This is a club with established structures, facilities, staff, players, supporters, and resources that any club or coach would be envious of and I’m very excited to be able to play my part in the years to come.”

Using Player Rankings in Fantasy Football

Watching football has changed in recent years, especially with the increase in popularity of the official Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game.

Players you rate on the pitch may not always be considered top FPL talents. There are some qualities such as assists, goals, clean sheets, that are necessary to be considered a top-level player in the world of fantasy football. Others can get by through the accumulation of bonus points based on their performance levels but, all-in-all, you do need to ‘stand out’ on the pitch with game-changing contributions.

It’s very tough for any of us to know who the best-value FPL players are at any given moment. We all know Mohamed Salah’s name will be top of the list in terms of points but when you want to dig a little deeper and get a bit more bang for your buck, then you’ll need the assistance of some reliable FPL tips sites to help you out.

The Best FPL Player Rankings Tool

Wouldn’t it be nice if some of the best sites provided an easy-to-use FPL player rankings page to assist us with our FPL decisions? Well, they do, of course. You will see from that link what a good player rankings page can provide you with in FPL.

The information therein will range from the most basic such as each player’s club, position (according to the FPL database), and who they are up against next. Then, you will also get to delve into more detailed stats such as the current ownership level for that player (what percentage of FPL teams own that player), and whether he is in the predicted lineup for the next game (according to that same site).

After that, it gets even more interesting. You should see data that tells you the likelihood that each player wins their next game, keeps a clean sheet (relevant to goalkeepers, defenders, and midfielders), scores in that game, or provides an assist. All of these probabilities are shown in percentage form.

With these figures all totted up, the algorithm on a good FPL tips site will then give you a Player Rankings total, relative to every other player in the game.

Using FPL Player Statistics

It’s always exciting to find there are more statistics to read about all Premier League players. Generally, if you are on a good quality player rankings page, you should be able to click on each player’s name to find out more about their performance levels.

Take Mohamed Salah, for example. See his most relevant stats in FPL terms. They are all laid out before you in an easy-to-understand format. Sites like this must be user-friendly as many people can be slightly overwhelmed if they see too much data or too many numbers thrown at them.

Once you follow it, though, you’ll notice average amounts for minutes played per gameweek, goals, assists, and key passes – all per gameweek. There will be extra ‘offensive’ stats to show their attacking prowess such as total shots, and shots on goal, as well as how many penalties he has won and how often he has hit the woodwork.

In terms of passing, as well as the aforementioned key passes, there will be crosses, and crosses on target (successful crosses).

Defensive stats will show how many saves (goalkeepers only) a player makes on average per gameweek, and how many tackles.

Finally, you’ll notice the disciplinary data which tells you how many fouls they make per gameweek as well as how many yellow and red cards they get.

Choose the Right FPL Tips Sites 

You should always stick with the best football data sites that are available. Find one that works for you in terms of how it’s presented and how easily you can understand the data in front of you. Once you do know what sites you would like to use regularly, rate them over a few weeks based on how accurate their predictions are and how ‘correct’ or close to correct the data they provided was in the end.

Why Sotheby’s Jumped Onto NFT Bandwagon?

Cryptocurrency hype is surprising, and now it is a new norm to hear day-to-day news about it, while what’s more biggest is that Sotheby, which is one of the oldest auction houses, has also decided to move with the latest trends. Now, these are the NFT or non-fungible tokens, which this auction house is focused on.

Well, you might be wondering what the NFTs are in the very first place, so let us be clear here. There are digital assets, and technically, these are similar to cryptocurrency. Therefore, the ownership for these tokens also works in a similar way as for the ownership of cryptocurrencies, and more recently, NFTs are holding their place for investment as well as for buying.

NFT is like a digital asset that reflects the cost of an online art piece, such as music, painting, video, etc., in the real world. These are bought and sold online while maintaining proof for any item, and they are secured via blockchains. So, these fungible tokens work in a way like if you exchange a 1 dollar bill, you get the same 1 dollar, but this time it has a different serial number.

Getting Synchronized

An endeavour to get synchronized with the latest trends, such as doing business in cryptocurrency, could be one of the many reasons that Sotheby has embraced the NFT bandwagon. Another reason is that all the artwork auction is taken to the online selling. Reportedly, in June 2021, Sotheby and Robert Alice co-curated its first auction under “Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale”.

The Main Collaborator

Sotheby has partnered with a digital artist called Pak for the transaction of digital assets. Pak is an anonymous person or a group who has been working in digital art for decades. The main reason behind this anonymity of identity is that the artist wants more focus on the art pieces and wants to be known with them. Moreover, Sotheby is a company that was established in 1744, and since then, it has been recognized primarily for selling art pieces and paintings worth of million dollars. Recently, it has embraced this NFT-digital transaction platform, and the company took this big step after watching Christie’s auction worth $70 billion for an artwork of a collage.

According to the experts, NFTs are revolutionary for bringing the new arts in the field, and it is a way to get across traditional ways of the physical world into the virtual and fast world of auctioning the art, which could be a form of ‘new aesthetics.’ Therefore, it could be a small step for expecting something really wonderful in the near future.

According to the experienced NFT auctioneers for wearable items, it is very difficult to grasp the concept of crypto for real items, and it may take some time for people to get accustomed to such novel ways. It is similar to the fact that many people still cannot understand betting at e-sports, such as at https://vulkan-bt.com/. So, it is all about educating the people, and currently, there are very few people who have a knack for understanding modern trends.  

How Actually NFT Works?

For an easy understanding, let’s use analogies from the real world. For example, there is this Mona Lisa painting, and everyone might own a copy of it, but not the real piece. Well, the auctioned pieces of art are those who have value for their originality, and therefore, they are sold expensively. Similarly, if you like music, then you can own a copy of the music and can’t convince people that you have a master recording of your favourite art piece. In a similar manner, you can have digital copies of art pieces, and you can showcase them online; but, the main distinguishable feature of NFT blockchain is that it authorizes a person if he/she owns an authentic art piece.

So, there is this online space, which will take care of your art piece and prove that you’re a real owner of Mona Lisa painting, Thriller music, or any other similar piece.

Sotheby on NFT Hipe

After the whole discussion, we could see that Sotheby has a progressive approach for introducing novelty in the artworks. Also, this is an era of post-digital currency, which means that the money has moved beyond credit and debit cards to blockchains, and it could be the best place for the business settings. Therefore, Sotheby has this visionary approach to get into the main streamline of the NFT bandwagon, and it is a potential place where the new users might be moving in, and at the same time, NFT will be benefitting from providing business space for such an established brand. As an exchange, it will turn NFT into a legitimate and legal space for businesses worth billions of dollars. 

 

Sharjah wins a fourth Matheson Hurdle

Sharjah (5/6f) joined Hurricane Fly and Istabraq as a four-time winner of the Matheson Hurdle, when claiming the feature race on day 4 of Leopardstown Christmas Festival.

Winner of the two-mile event for the past three years, the Patrick Mullins-ridden bay gelding battled Zanahiyr (5/1) by a neck in the closing stages of the long run-in, as the final hurdle was omitted due to the low sun.

An ultra-consistent son of Doctor Dino as a 10-time winner  – six at Grade 1 level – and 20-times placed horse, Sharjah now brings his career earning to almost €900,000. It was a 21st Grade 1 success for the winning trainer’s jockey son, Patrick.

Elliott and Kennedy take another Grade 1

There was another Grade 1 chase victory for Gordon Elliott on the final day of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival. The Cullentra House Stables handler produced a 1-2 in the Neville Hotels Novice Chase.

In the 8-runner race over 3 miles, it was the outsider of Elliott’s two runners that claimed the €59,000 top prize. Jack Kennedy steered Fury Road (7/1) to a comfortable 8 length win from the Davy Russell-ridden favourite Run Wild Fred (9/4f). The prominent Vanillier (5/2) stayed on for third spot, 10 lengths behind the runner-up, and just a short-head in front of Max Flamingo (28/1) in fourth.

Royal Kahala benefits from step up in distance

The Grade 3 Advent Surety Irish EBF Mares Hurdle saw the return to action of the Closutton Racing Club-owned Shewearsitwell (9/4f). Unbeaten in three runs to date, the daughter of Shirocco hadn’t seen a racecourse since Tipperary in October 2020. It wasn’t to be a successful return, however, as the filly and Paul Townend parted company at the first hurdle after the main stand.

It was Royal Kahala (11/4), up in distance from 2 miles 2 furlongs, who took the spoils, wearing down the brave front-running Heaven Help Us (5/1) at the line, winning by a neck from the Paul Hennessy-handled daughter of Yeats, with a further length back to the top-weight Telmesomethinggirl (11/1).

Journey With Me Remains Unbeaten

Kilcruit, beaten at odd of 1/14 at Cork earlier this month, went on a retrieval mission in the Pigsback.com Maiden Hurdle, but this time around the Willie Mullins-handled son of Stowaway found two his better.

Journey With Me (3/1), trained by Henry De Bromhead for Robcour, and ridden by Rachael Blackmore, maintain his unbeaten race record, having previously won a Point-to-Point at Ballindenisk and then a bumper at Gowran Park, when coming home with three and a half lengths to spare over Minella Crooner (12/1) with race favourite Kilcruit (4/9f) well held a further length and a quarter back in third.

Winning trainer Henry De Bromhead said of Journey With Me: “I’m delighted with him – he’s a lovely horse.”

Philip Rothwell’s Siberian Star (8/1) was an easy 11-length winner of the Adare Manor Opportunity Handicap Steeplechase under jockey Paddy O’Hanlon for owners Scrub A Dub Dub Syndicate.

The Irish Stallion Farms EBF Novice Handicap Hurdle went the way of Good Time Johnny (6/1) for Meath trainer Tony Martin and jockey Kevin Sexton – a double on the day for the rider.

The concluding Plusvital Flat Race was won by The Nice Guy (1/1), completing a double on the day for Patrick and Willie Mullins. It also gave the Closutton team a clean sweep of all four bumpers at the 2021 Leopardstown Christmas Festival.

Can Ireland Dominate the Cheltenham Festival Again in 2022?

The Cheltenham Festival is the pinnacle meeting when it comes to national hunt racing in the UK and Ireland. Last season, the festival resulted in a complete and utter dominance for Ireland, who went on to win 23 of the 28 races that took place over the four days.

We know all about the established stars that will hopefully be heading to Cheltenham once again, and some of the star performances from the up-and-coming horses have also been seen in Ireland, which further strengthens things. Of course, the countdown is important to see which horses are impressing, and following racing results today and in the future will be key for any punter that is trying to put together their own form book and work out who they think will come out on top at the festival.

The start to the new horse racing season has been strong for Ireland, and if that continues during the start of 2022, by the time we reach March and the festival, hopes will be high that more winners will come. Reaching the heights of last season may be a tough ask, but 20 winners is certainly a target to aim for that, which would work out at five winners per day on average across the meeting.

Who Will be the Stars for Ireland?

While the winners last season were spread across the major races at the meeting and the handicaps, it is of course the stars of Irish racing that everyone looks forward to seeing.

The two feature races of the meeting, the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup, take centre stage on the opening and final day of the festival, and both already have strong Irish challengers at the head of the betting.

Honeysuckle won the Champion Hurdle in great style last season, and she is on course to come back and defend her crown. If there is a new contender to trouble here, that could well be Appreciate It, who will stay hurdling this season, and recorded a wide-margin victory in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last season.

In the main contest of the week, the Gold Cup, all eyes will be on the rematch between 2021 winner Minella Indo and the runner-up that day, A Plus Tard. The second named has already been out and impressed this season, winning at Haydock on seasonal reappearance in good style.

Not only did Ireland have the first two home in the Gold Cup last season, but they also had the third, with previous two-time winner Al Boum Photo running well for Willie Mullins. Given the strength in depth that Ireland have in this division, even if one of their horses either cannot make the race or disappoints on the day, many alternatives could take the crown.

Elsewhere, previous big race winners such as Allaho, Bob Olinger, Flooring Porter will all be going back to Cheltenham with expectations on their shoulders and could play their part in another successful festival for Ireland.

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