AND so we come to the zenith of the whole festival, the Cheltenham Gold Cup (3.30) and unlike last year I am hoping that the majority of jockeys will not play into the hands of A Plus Tard by turning this into a relative sprint.

Yes, it was a great performance by the De Bromhead runner, but they simply set the race up for him and I suspect this time around, on possibly deeper ground and with a better gallop, this will be more of a test of stamina than 12 months ago.

I fancy a much better run from Protektorat after he blew out in the Cotswold Chase but after the race Dan Skelton held up his hands and said that he just didn’t have him fighting fit and there should be little between him, the running-on Noble Yeats and the winner Ahoy Senor.