'I never let favourite status cloud my judgement' - Patrick Mullins and Derek O'Connor talk Cheltenham tactics, hopes and regrets

He begins with a simple instruction: “Nothing fancy now, you know yourself.”

We’re sitting on the low wooden black benches in a cold corner of the Thurles weigh room. It ain’t modern. Derek O’Connor has sat down beside me and leaned back against the wall. It’s a quiet day and there is plenty of space.

He has a plaster over the top of his left ear. His answers are thoughtful, precise and confident. There is a softness to them also. His hands are man hands, large and worked. There’s a load of stats about winners and championships and fences jumped, but he doesn’t want anything fancy. So we get on with it.