Time to take on shorties lacking a recent run at Cheltenham

Having spent much of the last two weeks either in the garden or walking my greyhound, I have had a lot of time to think about Cheltenham.

Bar the Irish domination, the one thing that struck me more than any other was the negative consequences of not running in any race after Christmas that I thought was interesting, and perhaps the likes of Envoi Allen, Zanahiyr, Concertista and maybe A Plus Tard lost their races through lack of preparation, not lack of ability.

Before the letters and emails flood in, I do know that Envoi Allen fell, and yes he had endured a change of stable in the run-up to Cheltenham, but I thought he was in a bad mood from the moment he stepped into the paddock before the Marsh.