Hold your horses, Britain! Ruby Walsh's travel plans and my email inbox caution against excessive Cheltenham euphoria

There are any number of statistical calculations which can aid in determining a horse’s chances today that did not exist a decade ago, from win impact values to measurements involving stride length and cadence.

However, I have been struck in the last few days by a couple of less scientific straws in the wind which tell me that, for all the welcome talk about a revival for British trainers at the Cheltenham Festival, the overwhelming balance of top-class horses heading to the Cotswolds in March will still be travelling by boat.

The first of these is the accumulation of emails sent to the Racing Post newsdesk by bookmakers’ representatives. These are essentially price updates from different firms’ traders and often arrive within a minute or so of a winner crossing the line. That stream of messages proved particularly useful on New Year’s Day when, for professional reasons, I was watching the action from Southwell and Cheltenham.