Irish raiders are (finally) on the losing side in our weekly awards

The Racing Post's awards will honour the best (and sometimes worst) performances and raise talking points from the last seven days of racing. This week's winners are . . .

Losers of the week

Irish raiders

A big weekend in Britain without an Irish-trained winner? Time for an introspective look at the state of Irish jump racing after such an embarrassment if you ask me.

Henry de Bromhead’s three challengers at Newbury on Saturday did not get anywhere close to threatening and, although Willie Mullins saddled the third and fourth in the Ladbrokes Trophy, they were around 30 lengths behind Cloudy Glen and Fiddlerontheroof. (PS: let’s not mention Carlisle’s postponement robbing Elimay and Dreal Deal of their opportunities, or the looming presence of Chacun Pour Soi in next week’s Tingle Creek).

Trainer of the week

Venetia Williams

A marvellous weekend for Williams and stable jockey Charlie Deutsch saw them arrive at Newbury with three runners and leave with two victories and a third, headlined by a euphoric victory for Cloudy Glen in the Trevor Hemmings silks in the Ladbrokes Trophy.

Cloudy Glen (right): winner of the Ladbrokes Trophy on SaturdayCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

It was a second victory in the prestigious handicap for Williams – 23 years after the first. Her stable is really beginning to hit form with five winners from her last 13 runners and of the 11 who finished, only two were outside the top three.

Fitting end to a proper jumps day as Cloudy Glen scores for Trevor Hemmings

Farce of the week

Punchestown's 3m1½f handicap chase

Where to begin with this. A substantial gamble before the off on the Ronan McNally-trained All Class had already piqued interest in this handicap chase on Tuesday, and what followed was a truly bizarre scene.

Two unseats at the first left 14 runners in the field, but huge gaps quickly formed between the front-running Capture The Dream, All Class in second and the remainder.

The chasing pack never got within eyesight of the leading duo and All Class was left to waltz home by 23 lengths and a further 19 lengths back to the third in race that did nobody other than All Class backers any favours.

'It developed into a complete farce' - All Class comes home alone to land gamble

'Lived up to the hype' of the week

Jonbon

It's a good job the brother of Douvan is a horse rather than a human, and therefore blissfully unaware of the headlines and hype surrounding his hurdles debut at Newbury on Friday.

Just a year ago, Sprinter Sacre's brother Flinteur Sacre was a huge disappointment for the same owner and trainer, and there was no lack of pressure on Jonbon to live up to his £570,000 price-tag.

Jonbon: jumps the final flight to win at NewburyCredit: Edward Whitaker

There is still a long way to go for Jonbon to prove himself to be top-class, but this was a perfect start. His jumping was particularly smooth and the performance forced bookmakers to run for cover in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle market.

Jonbon dazzles on hurdles debut as layers make him Supreme Novices' favourite

Defence of the week

Nicky Henderson on Shishkin

The knives were out for Henderson after the decision not to run Shishkin in the Tingle Creek at Sandown on Saturday, but his frankness in clearly explaining the decision and batting off the many doubters should be commended.

Incidentally, in an interview with Racing TV on Saturday, Patrick Mullins confirmed Klassical Dream’s absence from the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle on Sunday was purely down to the horse not quite sparkling in his work at home. Sound familiar?

'How can you be wrong?' - Nicky Henderson hits back at Shishkin critics

Cheltenham banker of the week

Honeysuckle

What more can be said about this remarkable mare? Barring injury it seems impossible to see her beaten anywhere she goes this season on a weekend when potential challengers to her Champion Hurdle crown look weaker than ever.

Epatante and Not So Sleepy's dead-heat in the Fighting Fifth was thrilling for spectators, but unlikely to have caused Honeysuckle connections to lose any sleep, while hopes that Soaring Glory could develop into a credible contender ended in disappointment in the Gerry Feilden.

Her most credible rival in the division at present appears to be Sharjah, who holds a perfect four defeats from four in his meetings with the Henry de Bromhead-trained superstar.

Read these next:

Which horse could give Honeysuckle most to think about in the Champion Hurdle?

Who was the most likely Cheltenham Festival winner from Saturday's action?

Catch our new in-depth review of the weekend's racing every Monday in the Racing Post. With big-race analysis from Grand National-winning jockey Leighton Aspell, Chris Cook's take on the weekend action, eyecatchers from the Raceform team, weekly awards and more, it is not to be missed.