UK trainers confident Prestbury Cup will not be foregone conclusion

Some of the leading trainers based in the UK believe there may be light at the end of the Prestbury Cup tunnel having been on the end of several heavy defeats in recent seasons.

Since its inception in 2014, last year’s 20-8 victory for Ireland in the annual contest between the two nations was the latest in a long line of comfortable wins for the Emerald Isle.

Bar a draw in 2019, since the Festival moved to 28 races in 2016 every other year has been an Irish success. But former champion trainer Paul Nicholls is among those who think it might not be one-way traffic this season.

“Nicky (Henderson) has got a good team of horses and I’ve got some nice chances and there’s all those good young trainers that have probably worked for me or for Nicky that are doing really well,” said Nicholls.

“So I think we’re in a better place than we’ve been for the last few years and, looking at the betting, hopefully we’ve got a few good chances.

“I think things are going to be totally different and probably over the next few years. But you know what Willie (Mullins) is like – he turns up with a huge team and they’re all ready to fire for Cheltenham.”

Henderson concurs that the home team looks stronger than it has for some time.

He said: “I think the English squad is definitely stronger than it has been in previous years so I hope between us we can raise a bit of a fight. I think we can.

“Take the King George, there were two English and two Irish fighting it out and any of those four could win a Gold Cup or wherever they go. The stupid thing is Fact To File was out the back and now he’s come back and is at the front again.

“It’s going to be very open and I hope we can do a bit better this year what with all that Paul, Ben (Pauling) and Dan (Skelton) have got and everybody else to try and stop the export.”

Skelton seems certain to make his mark during the week, with big Champion Hurdle hope The New Lion headlining his team.

He said: “It’s only a few years ago when England was the poor relation and we didn’t have these competitors. I’m very proud of the fact that a lot of us (British) trainers responded positively to that and have pushed on to the point where we are now with more to come.

“It’s not necessarily the sourcing of them or the training of them or the placing of them, it’s a bit of everything. Incrementally if you add up all the percentage differences you’re going to get a slightly bigger percentage at the end of it.”

Pauling himself is taking his strongest ever squad, headed by Gold Cup hope The Jukebox Man.

“We are very aware of how dominant the Irish have been and how many quality horses they have got so all this chat about the British making a resurgence is half through the desire to be more competitive, but I do believe we’ve got a lot of nice horses and more competitive horses coming through,” said Pauling.

“It’s been a long time coming to a point where we think we can be competitive. The Prestbury Cup – who’s going to win it? More than likely it’ll be the Irish but it might only be by two or three and not 15. It’s important we keep trying to improve and find better horses and it’s important that we stay competitive because the whole sport needs us to be.

“I realise how good the Irish are and I’m a huge fan of Gordon’s (Elliott), of Willie’s and of Henry’s (de Bromhead). They turn up time and time again and just hit Cheltenham running. That’s where we’ve got to get to.

“We’ve got Nicky and Paul, but it’s now down to the younger brigade.”