So many dramatic and poignant storylines at Cheltenham - but the meeting is still trapped in a spiral of decline

We're nearly a week out from the conclusion of a madcap Cheltenham Festival and many of the racing issues have already been teased out. 

Some of the touchstone moments were the enduring capacity of Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore to excel in the Cotswolds each March regardless of what has gone before, and Sam Curling's exquisite training performance to win the hunter chase with Wonderwall. To take a horse out of the Bowens' yard, qualify it by winning two autumn point-to-points and then put it away for Friday's showpiece was an unbelievably bold strategy. To then execute it so exquisitely was remarkable. 

Willie Mullins obviously blew everyone out of the water again despite many of his fancied horses not scoring, and to get State Man back to the level he did was just incredible.