Tables turned as Paul Nicholls and team are rewarded for bold Punchestown move

It took the aggression of Paul Nicholls to shake British jump racing out of its funk. What a bold move, at a time when the rest of the industry was looking for a cupboard to hide in, to give up on a winnable contest on home soil and charge instead into the lion's den.

Given the 23-5 shellacking handed out at Cheltenham and the greenwash of the Grand National, it is arguably surprising to find any British raiders at Punchestown this week. What hubris, to imagine we might be able to win something in Willie Mullins' backyard.

Nicholls has never looked like the man to back down from a fight and, since his father and his grandfather were both policemen, he is not really bred to behave like that either.