With the ground being so testing, it will be very difficult for the horses who get detached early to make up a huge amount of ground, writes Ruby Walsh.

Ahead of an important couple of days in Down Royal, when some of the stable’s leading lights will make their first starts of the season, trainer Gordon Elliott completed a near 6-1 double on a cold Thursday afternoon in Thurles.

The Tony Mullins-trained Sammy Black and John Ryan’s Kilcarry Bridge captured the big ‘pots’ on McHale day at Ballinrobe last night.