“Are the british trainers subconsciously targeting the earlier season group ones where the irish trainers arent as focussed as cheltenham and accepting their fate this week?”
I can understand trainers taking that view. Realistically, Mullins is going to win something like 8 races at the meeting. De Bromhead and Elliott are going to get on the scoresheet and so is Henderson.
If you are a upper middle to middling British trainer, is there any point priming a horse for Cheltenham when you are almost certainly up against it. They can run a perfectly profitable business targeting the early season graded races and big handicaps.