'These are the only people who can stop the malaise' - Tom Segal on the British-Irish jumps divide

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Perhaps the most interesting story of last week was Richard Newland's comments on the dominance of Irish jumps horses and what could be done to help the British trainers. Fundamentally, however, it's hard to think of a solution because the British system caters for bad horses, while the Irish one caters for good ones.

The situation is only likely to get worse for the British side. Just look at the Irish domination at Cheltenham last season, especially in the novice hurdles. The first eight in the Supreme were trained in Ireland and so were the first ten in the Triumph, six of the first seven in the Boodles and the first four in the Ballymore. It's clear where all the best young horses are going.