British racing serves up a bit of a turkey at Christmas - and it's vital we try to do better

The deeper you go into Christmas, the sadder and drier the once-magnificent turkey becomes. Open the fridge on December 28 or 29 and you may still see a bird but there will be precious little meat on its bones – and with apologies for this column's most convoluted analogy of the year, British racing's festive programme is much the same.

This is not new news. Just as we often bemoan the quality of Britain's fare on Sundays, bank holidays and over the Easter period, it has become common to lament the lack of appetising action on too many of the days between Christmas and the new year. 

What is new – and extremely interesting – was the revelation that the inadequacy of Britain's Christmas offering relative to Ireland's could be a contributing factor to the decision made by some leading British-based jumps owners to have their horses trained in Ireland.