What a difference a year makes - Cheveley Park 33-1 to be leading owner at Cheltenham

With a strike-rate of 44 per cent in Ireland an improvement on the 40 per cent achieved last year, all appears to be going swimmingly for Cheveley Park Stud, who were crowned leading owners at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival.

But scratch below the surface and things are not quite as rosy as they seem. After an outstanding 2021-22 campaign in which they won 21 races from 55 runners in Britain and Ireland, including nine Grade 1s, things have been much quieter this season.

Their strike-rate of 44 per cent in Ireland is made up of four wins from just nine runs, while they are 0-2 in Britain and Envoi Allen’s victory in the Champion Chase at Down Royal in November is their sole Grade 1 success.