Cheltenham Festival: Irish dominance set to continue

The irony that the trophy awarded at Cheltenham for winning the Prestbury Cup isn't as described won't be lost on the competition's detractors. Rather than being an actual cup, it resembles an oversized, gaudy pepper mill.

Conceived by the sport's marketing boys as a conduit for increased banter, it nominally pits Ireland against Britain in bragging rights stakes, dependent on which side sends out more winners over the four days in the Cotswolds.

However, what constitutes a 'British' winner or an 'Irish' one causes some consternation.

An Irish-bred, Irish-ridden, Irish-owned winner that may have started his/her career in the Irish point-to-point sphere is classed as a British winner, even if trained by an Irishman, so long as that Irishman happens to train in Britain.

French imports that may have already shown a high level of form in their native land are also classed as either Irish or British winners by virtue of where they're currently stabled.

The Prestbury Cup’s obvious shortcomings in presenting a sport of individuals shoehorned into a team format means that it’s never been embraced by the racing media or regular fans of the sport in the way that it has by general media outlets, who seem to hold it in far higher esteem.

For all the pointless triumphalism that can emanate from the Britain v Ireland head-to-head, it does shed light on the health of the industry in the two jurisdictions.

It’s often suggested that such things are cyclical in nature, but British dominance at Cheltenham lasted all the way until 2013, when the score ended up 14-13 in favour of Irish-trained winners.

Britain once again held sway in 2015, with a 14-14 tie the outcome in 2019, but Irish-trained runners have come out on top at all of the other