The Brit Pack are here. For once there are four legitimate contenders for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup among the home team. After three fences they are in the formation we expected ... In the row behind is Jango Baie ... .
The sun shone at Cheltenham on Wednesday, the ground dried out and it felt like an old-school Festival...Runners, runners, everywhere. And anger too. Plenty of it ... .
Seven o’clock on Friday night and the phone rings. You see who’s trying to contact you and realise it’s a call even those of us on the absolute periphery of the great game dread receiving. Galopin Des Champs is out of the Gold Cup... And Galopin himself ... .
Harry Redknapp walks into the room alongside Ben Pauling. The team that took the sport back to the front pages of the newspapers on Boxing Day are on media duty ahead of the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup... "Go then – off you go," he says ... .
It is becoming abundantly clear that Constitution Hill has made the cut. Relief for organisers, connections and the ITV team bringing round two of Friday Night Live to an expectant nation ... .
So, what would you ride in the Gold Cup?. Pose a question, any question, to Danny Mullins and you’re not going to get a flippant, throwaway line ... "It's a difficult decision,” he smiles ... .
Our man visits Willie Mullins in his local pub to chat all things Cheltenham Festival with some big decisions to be made. “They say pressure is for tyres. But that’s b*llocks” ... “But a lot will depend on the mare and how she is in herself ... .