Beer Goggles heroics give Woollacott a rosy view of his future at top table

Many of us will have donned beer goggles at some point in our misspent lives. They're the imaginary accessories that appear after several pints of bitter and make everything in life – from the opposite sex to the state of our betting accounts – seem much rosier than is really the case.

Richard Woollacott has permanent Beer Goggles these days, but in his case there's no need for alcoholic input and there's certainly nothing imaginary about the effect on his outlook.

Woollacott's Beer Goggles is a very real and very talented six-year-old hurdler who launched the Devon trainer into Grade 2 orbit on December 1 by landing the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury under Richard Johnson.