Don't underestimate this 20-1 Cheltenham shot despite his unlikely backstory

The National Hunt breeding industry is a very different beast compared to what it was at the start of this millennium. Owners are prepared to pay fortunes for horses who win point-to-points or bumpers, and as a consequence Derby winners and plenty of top-class middle-distance Flat horses are now used as jumps sires.

As a result the standard of jumps horses has rapidly increased, while there aren't anywhere near as many top-class stayers on the Flat these days.

Jumps trainers now win races at Royal Ascot and the Cesarewitch like they were coming out of fashion, and we have a situation where a horse rated 119 in the middle of the last Flat season is a 20-1 shot to win a novice hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, despite having won on his hurdles debut in a good time at Leopardstown over Christmas.