Britain firmly up against it in annual joust for Cheltenham bragging rights

Where would we be without annual rituals? They are not so much stand-alone events as anchors in our lives, focal points that orientate us at specific times. To be denied them is to feel bereft, as though an important staging post has been uprooted and tossed down the river.

January is a month in which rituals are firmly established. First up, juggle the finances to try to pay for Christmas. A degree of financial speculation is required and there is no better platform than the Dubai carnival.

The mind must be recalibrated to Meydan's very specific rhythms, in particular the dirt track, which becomes faster and faster as the temperature rises with each passing week. It won’t be long before Meydan becomes a front-runner’s paradise.