RACING:ANTICIPATION MAY be growing in Ireland ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, which kicks off in three weeks, but there is a big difference of opinion between some bookmakers about how the Irish raiders will fare.

One firm, Stan James, yesterday began betting on the number of Irish-trained winners at the festival and their 11 to 8 favourite is four or fewer winners for the visitors. Last year there were seven Irish winners, and it is only five years since there were a record 10 victories at National Hunt racing’s most prestigious festival.

“Dessie Hughes is only going to have a couple of runners at the festival and Noel Meade looks like just having Realt Dubh and Pandorama,” said Stan James spokesman Joe Burke. “It all really revolves around Willie Mullins and maybe Edward O’Grady, even though there are an increased number of races this year.”

However, William Hill are much more positive about Irish hopes, and their 3 to 1 favourite is to repeat last year’s tally of seven winners. They also go just 5 to 1 about nine or more.

“I don’t think they’ll do too badly,” spokesman Tony Kenny said. “A lot of the Irish form is on soft or heavy ground so there could be a number of upsets. But some of the Irish horses could also be a lot better than they’ve shown in the winter.”

The lowest Irish tally at Cheltenham in the last decade was four winners in 2004.