Why this Dublin Racing Festival flop could spring a massive Cheltenham surprise

There have been some great additions to the punter's armoury in recent years. Trainers in Britain are now required to declare everything from wind operations to gelding procedures, tonguestraps to hoods and cheekpieces. You name it and a trainer probably has to declare it.

However, one thing connections don't have to declare is when they intend a change of tactics, and that is the biggest missing piece of the puzzle for punters in Britain and Ireland.

The use of pace maps when analysing races has become more common in recent years. The idea is to map out how a race might be run: is the pace likely to be strong because of several front-runners lining up or are there no potential pacesetters, meaning an easy lead might be on offer?