‘I haven’t had a bet at Cheltenham in 30 years - but one is 7-4, the other 16-1, and they aren’t that far apart’

Nicky Henderson has been around long enough to have experienced most of the lows of a festival that provides us with the greatest highs, and his approach to them is a simple one. Yes, he's just lost Sir Gino from his squad, but the only way for a trainer to go barely three weeks before the main event is onwards and upwards.

"Sir Gino won't be running, and it's tough when one of your big bullets is ruled out – you're always looking over your shoulder – but we're lucky enough to have a few of them and now is a time to be positive," he says. 

"This kind of thing has happened before and it'll happen again. I just hope it's not us next time, but it'll be somebody, that's for sure.