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. Both horses look like turning into top-class novice chasers but both jockeys, too, are worth watching. I long ago noted Kielan riding decent races for Graeme McPherson’s Cotswold yard. Ben, who started with Philip Hobbs, then caught the eye-winning 2019 Hennessy as a 5lb claimer on Emma Lavelle’s De Rasher Counter. The pair have proven this season that they can cope with pressure. With Kielan suspended for 45 days for a concentration of whip offences, Ben was entrusted with riding the stable stars. He responded by scoring a 730-1 treble on Pic Roc, Henry’s Friend and Honor Grey on a hotly contested Ascot card, failing by only a head on Bad to make it a four-timer.

He even managed to win a race at Sandown on the talented but quirky Harper’s Brook, a horse who literally slows to walking pace when the mood takes him.