'The guilt factor makes me uncomfortable but I love doing what I'm doing'

Rare are the days such as the one Philip Rothwell enjoyed at the Cheltenham November meeting when the good lord didn't just smile down on him, he opened the bottle and doused the trainer with champagne as Mc Alpine stormed up the hill in front.

Rothwell had been there before. Fifteen long years ago Native Jack won the Cross Country Chase at the festival for a trainer who thought he had the world at his feet but soon felt like the world was against him.

It was a long, hard road back from the depths for Rothwell, whose perseverance finally found its reward with Mc Alpine's victory. By the time the novice hurdler made his way into the Cheltenham winner's enclosure, emotion was pouring out of the County Wicklow trainer.