I fear for Irish jockeys for Cheltenham - and I'm not surprised Gordon Elliott is being kept up at night

Things seemed to take a small step in the right direction last week with regards to the new whip rules in Britain, when the publication of the bans from week two of the new regime showed a fall in offences compared to the previous week.

However, some strong criticism on racing's hottest topic from the likes of Paul Nicholls, Sandy Thomson and Richard Patrick over the weekend emphasised that we remain a long way from harmony as the Cheltenham Festival looms.

Tensions were high after 19 riders fell foul of 20 misdemeanours in the first week of the new rules, but a drop to 12  breaching the new whip rules in week two briefly took a little heat out of the situation. But until we get past this notion that the whip debate is a shootout between the BHA and the wider sport, progress is going to be painfully slow, and we're not even close to being out of the danger zone.