My Cheltenham misery

Everybody has their glory memory from Cheltenham this year. Some celebrate the extraordinary seven victories for the quietly confident Willie Mullins, together with such versatile horses as Douvan and Annie Power. Others will forever remember a misty-eyed Nicky Henderson greeting Sprinter Sacre after his Champion Chase victory enabled the most handsome idol in training to leap back onto his pedestal after two injury-dogged years. Then there was the Rolls-Royce supercharger effort that saw Thistlecrack surge clear of his field in the World Hurdle.

I carry one other image, an image conjured up for me by the great French trainer François Doumen, who won a Gold Cup with The Fellow in 1994 after two agonisingly close defeats. As he parked his car the morning we spoke, the elegant M Doumen was recognised by racegoers. Within two minutes he was the centre of a small group of 20-odd who brought tears to his eyes by breaking spontaneously into a chorus of ‘The Marseillaise’.