The Old course differs from the New – and it's not just to do with age

Something Old, something New, something furrowed . . . no, Cheltenham doesn't go quite that far, even on the cross-country course, but the home of jump racing is nevertheless built on the marriage of two distinct and quite different courses, two paths equally travelled through this field of dreams.

At certain times of year, certain times of the big week, it's out with the Old and in with the New, and although the two courses have their start and finish in the same spot they have a separate character that may not always be evident from the grandstand or the armchair. Clerk of the course Simon Claisse is quick to help with the groundwork.

"The New course came into being around 1960, simply through a process of natural evolution during a spell of racecourse development," he says, gazing out at his green acres. "It is slightly longer than the Old course – the New is 1m3f179y long and the Old is 1m3f92y – and the main difference between them is where they turn left out of the back straight before descending the hill.