Christmas all over again as small yard defies the odds to raid the big handicap

For anyone feeling a bit wistful about having to return to work last week, it must have been fun to get a mini repeat of the Christmas racing over the weekend. Just like on December 26 and the days that followed, the Grade 1 contests fell to the dominant trainers on each side of the Irish Sea, while the feature handicap chase provided the necessary dose of unpredictability, being landed at a big price by a runner from a low-profile yard.

Owner Trish Andrews described Wishing And Hoping as "a slow burn", but that doesn't really do justice to the hero of the Unibet Veterans' Final. On Saturday morning he was the winner of a very respectable seven races under the rules of jump racing, which had brought in first-place prize money of £33,326 for Andrews over the years. That afternoon, aged 13 and having the 27th race of his career, he bagged another £51,440, equal to 154 per cent of his winnings to that point.

There must have been so many wishes and so much hope centred on this horse since he made his promising debut in 2014, beating 13 rivals in a Wincanton bumper and being described by the Post's analyst as "an above-average type".