Brighterdaysahead is O’Leary’s brightest chance for Cheltenham success this year when the seven-year-old mare takes part in the Champions Hurdle at 4pm on Tuesday. The Gordon Elliott-trained star will vie for the £262,000 grand prize and represents O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud in County Westmeath. O’Leary, 64, found himself at loggerheads with X owner Elon Musk in January following a disagreement over the latter’s Starlink internet system. The airline tycoon rejected the notion of installing Musk’s wifi infrastructure on his planes, to which the Tesla investor took umbrage.

Musk, who is worth an estimated £625billion, responded by referring to O’Leary as “an utter idiot” while suggesting he might purchase Ryanair. However, his new rival, who is believed to be worth around £750million, took very little offence and in fact thanked Musk for the publicity.

“If he wants to call me an idiot, he wouldn’t be the first, and he certainly won’t be the last,” said the Cork man at a press conference in January. “But if it helps to boost Ryanair sales, you could insult me all day, every day.”

In response to Musk’s notion that he may take over the company, O’Leary was quick to remind him EU-based airlines must be majority-owned by people from the EU. That being said, he welcomed any investment.

He added: “We’re a publicly owned company. He’s free to [buy shares] at any time, but non-European citizens cannot own a majority of European airlines. If he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it’s a very good investment.”

In addition to the £216m or so it would cost to retrofit his planes with Starlink technology, O’Leary argued it would also add another £86m in annual fuel expenses. For that reason, he said the decision made little sense.

Tensions between the two corporate figureheads eventually fizzled out following their brief spat. And O’Leary will undoubtedly have his attentions fixed on Cheltenham this week as one of the most higly anticipated weeks in the racing calendar finally arrives.

The Irishman announced in 2019 that he would be deescalating the purchase of new horses for his Gigginstown House Stud. However, a select few contenders will nonetheless represent O’Leary’s stable this year.

In addition to Brighterdaysahead, Elliott will also run Ballyfad in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle on Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after that race, Storm Heart looks set to be the favourite to claim the £61,000 winner’s prize in the BetMGM Cup Hurdle.

Also on Wednesday, Favori De Champdou and Conflated will each vie for victory in the Cross Country Chase. And on Thursday, Mon Cresuset will represent O’Leary’s stud as an underdog in the Triumph Hurdle.