British trainers deserve a kick up the arse for missing the Irish Grand National

British jumps trainers deserve a kick up the arse. No, not for what happened at Cheltenham. Nine home winners exceeded my expectations and we have had enough festival autopsies to last us a lifetime so, don't worry, this isn't yet another post-mortem.

This is an inquest into trainers' absence from the BoyleSports Irish Grand National on Easter Monday. Are they asleep at the wheel or what? There is a whopping half a million euros up for grabs, and you get €5,000 for finishing tenth, but not a cent of it will be crossing the Irish Sea as there is not a single British representative. I simply cannot get my head around it. The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. It just doesn't make any sense. 

The lack of British interest in the Dublin Racing Festival does make sense. It is Willie Mullins' own personal party and, when Gordon Elliott has even given up trying to gate crash it with his best horses, we cannot expect overseas operators to come over and take on the Closutton colossus. If they can't beat him at Cheltenham, they ain't going to beat him at Leopardstown.