Skelton rollercoaster peaks at the right moment with a joyous Sunday double

It all came good for the Skeltons in the end, an extraordinary rollercoaster of a weekend peaking with victories in the Shloer and the Greatwood that will afford them a few days of satisfaction before the next crazy ride, possibly this Saturday at Haydock and Ascot. Surely no stable has done as much to supply the drama in recent jump racing; win or lose, Dan and Harry always seem to be part of the story.

"Realistically, Friday was not a great night," Dan admitted on ITV, speaking from the much more comfortable situation of having won Sunday's biggest prizes. Three long Cheltenham days had started with My Drogo's late tumble at odds of 4-9 on an afternoon when nothing went right for the Warwickshire yard, but they ended with consecutive trips to the winner's enclosure and Dan's daughter Florence eating celebratory doughnuts on the telly.

The second-last fence on the Old course played its usual prominent role in proceedings, and not just when My Drogo's race practically came to a stop. Was that fence in Harry's head the next day when he made such an early, aggressive move to establish a winning lead aboard Third Time Lucki? It meant he was able to steady into it rather than having to ask for a big one, but his horse got pretty tired on the run-in.