Training is becoming something of a lost art - but it was shown in abundance by Nicky Henderson and Hughie Morrison

I still vividly remember reading a fascinating interview with champion jumps trainer Paul Nicholls in the Racing Post towards the end of 2020, accompanied by the most spectacular image of some of his former stars bursting from the back of his head.

In it, Lee Mottershead teased out the processes, dilemmas and moments of inspiration that helped forge the careers of some of Nicholls’ champions, while also offering a deeper insight into his total obsession with training the horses.

This desire to train the specific, individual horse, with all of the challenges and fulfilment it must bring, was evident at Sandown on Saturday too. Yet, in listening to Nicky Henderson and Hughie Morrison, I was left with a sense this approach was one that was slowly slipping away and being relentlessly replaced by stats and numbers and regiment – and wondering what this ultimately would mean for the horse.