Champion jockey Jack Kennedy off the mark on first day of the season at Cheltenham aboard Bowensonfire

With the clocks going back, news of postponements and cancellations, as well as likely inspections, there’s no doubt about the shifting of the racing seasons, with the domestic focus on National Hunt action this bank holiday weekend.

Storm Boelo has already resulted in a blank Saturday due to Orange-rated wind warnings, and now officials at Galway and Wexford are keeping everything crossed that they can go ahead on Sunday and Monday.

Both tracks are expected to get heavy rainfall on Saturday, with the result that Sunday morning inspections are likely.

“Shane Ryder [clerk of the course at Galway] and Niall Madden [Wexford clerk] will look at the tracks tomorrow afternoon. Depending on that, and the forecast, they will assess the situation. But if the forecast is any way correct, it’s likely they will call inspections for the morning,” an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board spokesman said on Friday.

“There is a status yellow rain warning at Galway which could see the track get up to 30mm of rain. Wexford isn’t involved in any warning. But it got 27mm last night. The track took it very well and the going is soft. However, it could get a further 25mm throughout tomorrow,” he added.

Throw in Cheltenham’s start to the new campaign and the jumping tone is increasingly apparent.

There’s a smattering of Irish-trained runners at Cheltenham on Saturday, including Butch Cassidy, who must concede weight in a novice chase. Henry de Bromhead’s runner impressed with a pair of victories over fences at Killarney during the summer. Ground conditions will be different this time.

They will certainly be very different in Ireland should the weather fates play ball.

Champion jockey Jack Kennedy has four scheduled rides at Wexford, including on the Gigginstown Stud pair Soul Asylum and Huntin Boots, who line up over hurdles.

Huntin Boots has some form on soft ground and faces an interesting newcomer to jumping in Square Neckar. He ran off 97 on his last start in the Ebor, and the AMO-owned horse now has a first start for Emmet Mullins. Local trainer Paul Nolan has a handful of runners in this race, including four fillies making their debuts.

Soul Asylum ran a decent race in a Punchestown festival bumper and brings jumping experience to another maiden hurdle. That could prove decisive against his likely rival Lirakali.

On Friday, Kennedy got off the mark at Cheltenham’s first fixture of the season with the quirky Bowensonfire landing a novice chase there. Trainer Gordon Elliott is already eyeing a long-range return to Prestbury Park for the Grand Annual in March.

“On ratings, he was entitled to do it, but Jack gave him a beautiful ride. He said he slipped going into the first, and that he lost his confidence a bit, but he got into it nicely and got the job done.

“I was a bit worried whether he would go by him as he was jumping a bit right, and he didn’t jump great today, but Jack being Jack is different class, and he did a great job,” Elliott said.

“The horse does have his own ideas, and sometimes they are not the best ones. He is a very talented horse, and he has won a lot of prize money. I think big fields he loves, and passing horses, so he is a horse that could suit a Grand Annual,” he added.

Even this weekend’s flat action on the Continent has a distinctly National Hunt flavour with plenty of attention likely to be on Milan and another flat start for the former Champion Hurdle winner Constitution Hill.

Nicky Henderson has opted for the Group Two Gran Premio del Jockey Club at the San Siro track for his enigmatic superstar, one of the best hurdlers of the modern era, who wound up not being able to jump.

Some bookmakers rate him a 9-2 shot to land the historic Group contest on what will be his fourth start on the flat. Irish man Rossa Ryan rides Constitution Hill for the first time.

However, the partnership faces a task against likely favourite Dubai Honour. Once a proper globetrotting Group One performer, William Haggas’s stalwart may not be quite what he once was, but still represents a formidable challenge for his compatriot.

Soft ground conditions are likely at the San Siro.