Nowhere does racing quite like Cheltenham, even behind closed doors

With or without the crowds, nowhere does racing like Cheltenham. The four winners, including her first Group One shared equally by Hollie Doyle with her housemate Tom Marquand (an item since Pony Club days) made it a Flat finale to remember on Ascot’s Champions Day a week before. They are not just two prodigiously talented riders but the sort of level-headed couple you would want living next door to you.

But in the jumping game, every obstacle crossed adds to the drama, the less frantic pace enables every observer to appreciate unfolding tactics and the horses are often around long enough to be as well known as their riders. Jumping comes with added emotion and though Cheltenham’s whole style and layout demands roaring crowds, the course provided everything we could ask for behind those sadly closed doors at its first autumn fixture.

That bubbling stream of consciousness totem Bryony Frost and her beloved Frodon, a different kind of golden couple, provided the inspirational centrepiece and probably saw a good few armchairs splintered in TV rooms nationwide as they jumped a strong field to exhaustion in the handicap chase. Humping 11st 12lb and conceding 18lb or more to his rivals, Frodon led all the way to secure his sixth victory at the track, seeing off every challenger. Said Bryony: ‘Weight stops trains but his class pushed that aside. His jumps were just magical.’

‘Frode’, as she calls him, attracts attention at home by squealing. On the racecourse she is convinced that he thrives on crowd enthusiasm and the good news for all Frodon’s followers is that trainer Paul Nicholls was impressed enough by that brave performance to accede to owner Paul Vogt’s desire to have him run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup next March.