Ireland seeking a bright start to big sporting day as 34 (!) runners line up for the Cesarewitch

The timing of this week's Grand National announcement was a puzzle to me at first but now everything becomes clear. Just two days later, the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch comes along to remind us what fun a 34-runner handicap can be.

Appropriately enough, they used to have a couple more runners in the Ces, too. But 34 is the number these days and, for this race at any rate, it feels like enough. Whether you're trying to pick the winner or memorise the colours or even just make sure the right horses turn up in the paddock, 34 is plenty.

The odds are good that this old race will give Irish sports fans a flying start to their big day, with New Zealand lying in wait for their rugby players in the World Cup quarter-final in the evening. That'll be a tough game to win; beating the Brits in the Ces has become a relative pushover.