Much-debated Cheltenham changes: are they good (or bad) for racing or just good (or bad) for you?

I went on a road trip up north last week and on the way dropped in to see a jumps trainer, whose first question was to ask what I thought of the changes that had been announced that afternoon to the Cheltenham Festival.

I explained that I'd been on the motorway for the last four and half hours, had managed only one pint of beer since arriving, had no idea what he was talking about and would need at least two more pints to process the information.

He helped me out by saying it was very good news that the Turners Novices' Chase had reverted to its role as a 2m4f novice handicap chase, maybe because it would make the other Grade 1 novice chases more competitive, or quite possibly because he felt he now had a better chance of winning it.