It has been a strange couple of months for National Hunt racing. Great Britain were red-hot favourites for the Betbright Cup, formerly known as the Prestbury Cup, but Irish trainers did much better than expected and romped to a 19-9 victory – much to the delight of racing fans across Ireland.

Unfortunately, Aintree didn’t exactly go to plan for the likes of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott. In fact, there were no Irish-trained winners at the famous Grand National meeting this year – an incredible shock considering how impressive the Irish horses were at last month’s Cheltenham Festival.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but perhaps those horses who ran at Aintree suffered a little bit for their previous exploits. There was the odd exception: Elliott’s Cause Of Causes ran a brilliant race to claim second in the National, narrowly missing out to Scotland-trained One For Arthur, who won under a fantastic ride from Derek Fox.

For most Irish racing fans, Punchestown pulls rank ahead of Aintree in terms of importance – both for punters and trainers. Elliott and Mullins are both expected to bounce back and enjoy very successful festivals at the end of April, especially with the likes of Annie Power set to return from injury.

Looking at the ante post betting markets, the majority of favourites are Irish-trained and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Mullins surpass Elliott in the National Hunt title race after four days of intense action at Punchestown – both men look set to send strong teams to the famous meeting.

The likes of Un De Sceuax, priced at 8/13 for the Champion Chase with 8/13 for the Champion Chase with 888sport, and Nichols Canyon will both compete in two of the biggest races at the meeting and a double for Mullins will certainly help his chances of overhauling Elliott at the top.

As of April 12th, Mullins has a 35% success rate – an incredible statistic. With 165 winners from 476 runners, his record is second to none. Comparatively, Elliott has 180 winners but from 1112 runners; both will enjoy plenty of success at Punchestown but this could be Mullins’ time to swing the title race back in his favour.

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls will expect a few winners here and there, but this could be another week dominated by Irish victors. Brain Power might head to the Punchestown Champion Hurdle but that race is Annie Power's to lose if she is fit enough to go.

Punchestown manager Richie Galway announced that there will be another increase in prize money for this year’s meeting, with upwards of €2.9 million on offer throughout the week – a rise of €400,000.

This has placed greater emphasis on the meeting for both British and Irish trainers but most eyes will be focused on the fascinating Elliott-Mullins battle. If the former can steal a shock win or two, he should hold onto the trainer’s title but it would be foolish to write the wily Mullins off.

With less than two weeks until Punchestown, attention now turns to the form and fitness of key horses in both camps. If nothing else, one thing’s for sure: no matter whether it is Elliott or Mullins, Ireland are going to bounce back on the big stage at the end of April.