Nicky Henderson: 'Win that and you bloody well won't settle for one any more!'

It's lunchtime at Seven Barrows, the back of the day's work has been broken, and for all that we're less than two weeks away from the most momentous week of jump racing's year, Nicky Henderson sees no harm in stopping for a chat. The second greatest Cheltenham Festival trainer of all time has been accused of being obsessed by the big meeting to the detriment of all else, and it still rankles a little, but to look at him, you wouldn't guess it.

In the garden room of his friendly old house, the sky blue of his sweater and the tomato red of his Bloody Mary enlivening the dull grey of what's supposed to be a spring afternoon, Henderson is anything but manic. It's as if a gentle wave of bonhomie has smoothed the jagged edges off this most critical of times and left a contented man in its wake.

"I love having people here, even press!" he grins, offsetting the partial insult with the offer of a glass of nice white Burgundy. "I don't like having days without people, without something happening."