Ireland has six of the seven favourites at Cheltenham on day one and two, all seven on day three and five on Friday
The All-Weather Finals moved from Lingfield to Newcastle in 2022 and the Surrey track lost another of its significant draws over the weekend when it was confirmed that the two jumps cards in its Winter Million meeting will be staged at Windsor from 2025, either side of Clarence House Chase afternoon at nearby Ascot.
Lingfield’s locally based fans may grumble, but a long weekend in Berkshire could be a significant step forward for the pre-Cheltenham programme, and the degree of co-operation involved between Ascot, the country’s biggest independent track, and Arena Racing Company, which stages the Winter Million, is also encouraging.