Needle between Nicholls and Elliott - but they're not actually that different

In a week that has generated so much debate about where Constitution Hill sits on the list of all-time greats after four racecourse appearances, we’ve at least had the distraction of an Anglo-Irish trainers’ brouhaha to provide some unintended levity.

Gordon Elliott may or may not have meant to be as provocative as he was when expressing his belief that Irish trainers being compelled to run their best horses against each other fuels their current supremacy, but he certainly touched a nerve.

Over the past decade, as the shift in power has switched so unmistakably west of the Irish Sea, Paul Nicholls’ lot has simultaneously contracted. He has gone from practically owning the Cheltenham Festival to struggling to compete.