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The intense competition between horse trainers Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, which has lit up the NH trainers championship in Ireland both this and last season, will move across the water next week as Elliott attempts to repeat his achievement of 2017 in dislodging Mullins from his perch at the top of the Cheltenham trainers' tree.

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.

Willie Mullins has won more important races at the Cheltenham festival than the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle. However, I'm sure that very few winners he trains there will give the wider Mullins family greater satisfaction than seeing Sir Des Champs come from an almost impossible position, to secure victory in the final strides, in the second last race of last week's festival. For this observer, it was a fitting finale to what had been a wonderful week for Irish trained horses, and particularly those of Kilkenny man, Willie Mullins.

The strong association between Ireland's premier National Hunt racing family and England's premier National Hunt racing track was further enhanced last week by the exploits of the Willie Mullins team which undertook the annual pilgrimage to the Cotswolds.