'I thought no-one noticed!' - why a sneaky village raid could pay off for Fry

Next week's Coral Welsh Grand National will not be won by a Lambourn trainer, but success for Ask Me Early would mean a slice of credit coming the village's way.

The recent cold snap sabotaged the fixture list, but – thanks to the facilities owned and maintained by the Jockey Club – Lambourn trainers barely missed a beat at home.

"We've hardly noticed despite the freezing temperatures," long-serving trainer Mark Usher told me, while Jamie Snowden said "everything" could be done on the area's all-weather surfaces and that he and his counterparts were "incredibly lucky" to access those gallops every day.