'Twister' banking on Bristol to banish the Christmas shopping blues

The trainer isn't at his best today. A bit of a Grinch, you might say, which is odd considering what he's got to look forward to this Christmas. Not just the mince pies and the crackers, but also a live chance in the King George and a far from forlorn hope of bagging a third Welsh National. So why the long face? You may well ask.

The dreaded phrase "Christmas shopping in Cirencester" provides some kind of a clue as to the dampened mood, with a brisk and satisfactory morning on the gallops soon to be overtaken by an afternoon trudge round the emporia of the capital of the Cotswolds. Then again, if you will keep having excitable young children – the count is four now, to go with the two less excitable older ones – you rather bring it on yourself, I suppose.

Not that the flagging spirits are difficult to replenish with seasonal cheer. Mention of the words Bristol De Mai is enough to raise a smile, but before we get round to the young pretender, we first need to discuss the old warrior who has just been presented with the equine equivalent of the slippers and bus pass after a lifetime of stellar service, the mention of which still warms the cockles of Nigel Twiston-Davies' heart.