'Willie's team has a depth to it that's scary - and we can't wait to run them'

Tick-tock goes the clock. The count continues down. Last year, the show went on but with no crowd; it was like visiting Sydney without the Opera House, Paris without the Eiffel Tower, New York without the people. So I was told anyway, as I wasn’t actually there.

This year the roar will return and what a race it will send on its way. The Supreme radiates excitement the way fire radiates heat. Which ace do we send there, and which to the Ballymore? The confirmed class of Sir Gerhard or the unknown ability-bomb of Dysart Dynamo? Each has the pedigree for one race but the temperament for the other.

Maybe it won’t matter, as Kilcruit could prove the wildcard. We’ve changed a few things with him and he’s finally caught up with his self from last year, Willie ignoring suggestions from certain parts of Closutton that the horse could find himself after a third run had qualified him for the Martin Pipe. A temptation not many would have resisted, I’d wager.