Reduced Irish participation at Cheltenham is inevitable as obstacles mount up

Come March, it will be 20 years since the Cheltenham Festival fell to foot and mouth. It hasn’t been lost in the intervening two decades, escaping by the skin of its teeth last year.

Notwithstanding how rapidly everything changes from day to day during this pandemic, you’d like to think it will prevail again in 2021.

Again, while the same caveat applies, there now seems to be an acceptance at government level internationally that, once stringent protocols are applied and there is no added threat to public health, professional sport provides an outlet that distracts and entertains people.