Cheltenham gave us a taste of what is to come 

Writing a fortnightly column about a sport happening daily can be cruel. These words had to be delivered before the Cheltenham Festival’s Tuesday opening so I can only declare what I hope might have happened: that England’s trainers have responded as effectively to the advance taunts that they would fold in the face of Irish raiders as the England rugby side did. Realistically, it may take years to redress the racing balance. What matters is that the efforts of homebased greats like Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls, who will not be around for ever, are supplemented by upwardly-mobiles like Dan Skelton, Fergal O’Brien and Ben Pauling. Where Ben is concerned Sandown last Saturday hopefully gave us a foretaste of what’s to come.

The valuable EBF Novices’ Hurdle Final was fought out head to head by two Pauling inmates, Champagne Twist and Pic Roc, the latter ridden by stable jockey Kielan Woods and the former by his deputy, Ben Jones.