MUCH ink has been spilt recently, and many angry words spoken, about the treatment of Irish horses by the British handicappers. Over the years, Ireland has generally managed to find a few handicap winners at the Cheltenham Festival – including three or four at each of the last four – and the likelihood is it will be the same this time round.

Irish handicap hurdlers have fared better than Irish handicap chasers at recent Cheltenham Festivals and impact values going into this year’s festival point to the likelihood of the same. Two particularly interesting hurdlers from a time point of view are Prospectus and Dakota Moirette in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle on the second day.