Ireland's bumper harvest owes much to timing of Dublin Racing Festival

It was a gruelling Cheltenham Festival, all ends up. Soft-ground horses were in their element, but only those in mint condition prospered. In such conditions any horse who is undercooked won’t get home. Conversely, overcooked horses tend to yield to exhaustion.

In the circumstances it seemed prudent in advance to be wary of horses who had run in February’s desperate conditions. Perceived wisdom decrees they might have left their big day out there in the mud. Come the festival and they will likely have lost their edge.

A similar story surrounded horses who ran at Cheltenham’s trials fixture in late January. Back then, there was no reason to suppose the prevailing testing ground would still be a factor come March. As one tired horse after another reached the winning post, trainers who elected to bypass the fixture were feeling smug.