'He was faultless, he didn’t make a single error. It was a real joy'

While the Cheltenham Gold Cup is the defining challenge of jumping and courage in the steeplechasing calendar, the King George VI Chase is perhaps a sleeker, flashier version, apt to be won by lightning as much as steel.

That Francois Doumen came to play a leading role in the King George through the 1990s and into the new millennium with slick jumping raiders The Fellow, Algan and First Gold seems a natural fit with the character of the Boxing Day race, his immaculately bandaged horses presented as if ready for the show ring.

But in 1987 very few people in racing outside France had heard of Doumen, much less his imposing chaser Nupsala.