'He'll go back to Cheltenham next in what we hope will be an exciting season - the plan is to work back from the County Hurdle'

Last term was what you might call an 'almost but not quite' season for Lodge Hill Farm, coming within a whisker of landing a first trainers' title, but don't let Dan Skelton hear you say it. For Britain's leading jumps trainer it was a lot better than that.

"It was a great season, no doubt about it," he insists. "Not quite winning the championship was the only thing we can have any disappointment about, and what was really great was that we had a good bunch of horses competing at the top level, winning lots of races and taking their owners to the places we all want to be.

"If the championship happens, great, but we're very focused on the day-to-day things at the moment, building the foundations for the spring festivals, and we're very lucky to have the strongest team we've ever had numerically and the best bunch of horses."