The dream factory: where France's Cheltenham hopefuls take their first steps

If you wanted to find raw footballing talent it used to be said that taking a stroll along Copacabana Beach was as good a plan as any.

What might be called the origins stories of Pele, Zico and Neymar are all a good deal more complex than the stereotype suggests, and in the same way future Gold Cup winners are not literally standing around in French fields waiting to be discovered.

Yet there is a corner of Burgundy which can rightfully lay claim to one of the most concentrated collections of jumping breeders anywhere in the world.