Joy, despair, fear... but no thermal camera

not possible to dress this year’s race up as a vintage renewal. The heavy ground will be a leveller, too.

The reigning champion, Buveur D’air, comes back without a competitive contest under his belt this season but should still win, not least because there is currently an alarming dearth of top-notch two-mile hurdlers.

My ITV colleague Mick Fitzgerald rates Buveur D’air as one of the slickest hurdlers he has ever seen. He gets from A to B quicker than any other hurdler because he takes the flights so low, although that is not without its risks. Further heavyweight support: Sir Anthony Mccoy has said that the horse reminds him of Binocular.

In the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, all the talk has been about Getabird and whether he will struggle with the Cheltenham circuit because he has only once gone around left-handed. He divides opinion, but I am confident he will go well.

In contrast to an uninspiring