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Willie Mullins, once the leading amateur jockey, now the leading national hunt trainer in Ireland; Gordon Elliott, once a decent amateur jockey himself, now challenging Mullins’ domination of the Irish NH racing scene; the Cheltenham Festival, once the mecca for NH racing fans from Ireland and the UK, always the mecca for NH racing fans from Ireland and the UK.

Willie Mullins, once the lead- ing amateur jockey, now the leading National Hunt Train- er in Ireland; Gordon Elliott, once a decent amateur jock- ey himself, now challenging Willie Mullins’ domination of the Irish NH racing scene; the Cheltenham Festival, once the Mecca for NH racing fans from Ireland and the UK, always the Mecca for NH racing fans from Ireland and the UK.

Now that the election is over (almost), we can concentrate fully on what will unfold in the Cotswolds for four hectic days next week. There are certain acres of ground which are held sacred by followers of sport in this country. Horse Racing, and particularly National Hunt Racing, also has its sacred piece of ground where man and beast combine in pursuit of their holy grail. The irony for Irish National Hunt fans is that these few acres are in a town in the Cotswolds that couldn't be more English. All that changes next week, when an estimated 15,000 Irish people descend on the town.

As always, there was a fine crowd at The Salthill Hotel on Monday night for the annual Cheltenham preview event, which was this year sponsored by Paddy Power, with all proceeds in aid of Barney Curley's charity Direct Aid for Africa.