11-10 with a day to go - but delve deeper and Ireland are still utterly dominant

The Rider Cup, aka Cheltenham’s GB-Ireland duel, is dismissed by many purists as contrived. How, they ask, can you draw battle lines between two intricately connected racing industries, where horses and humans buzz across the Irish Sea? And why would you want to?

Answer: because National Hunt racing in those two neighbouring lands boasts deep traditions and employs tens of thousands of workers. Results and livelihoods are inseparable. The big race festival numbers tell a story that could be cyclical or may yet suggest long-term Irish domination and alarming British decline.

First the good news. The score heading into day four is GB ten, Ireland 11 – an improvement on last year’s 23-5 shellacking by Irish yards.