Frodon up against it in unusual Badger Beer - take this mud-loving youngster against him

The surface of Wincanton’s Badger Beer meeting is normally fast and for that reason it can almost be deemed the last ‘summer’ race of the major staying chase programme in Britain.

Adding to that theory is the fact good-ground staying chasers who ran in Sandown’s bet365 Gold Cup, the final marathon handicap of the previous season that regularly throws up quick going, are often seen in the Badger Beer the following campaign.

Horses like Cap Du Nord, El Presente, Enrilo, Irish Prophecy and Potterman have attended both meetings in recent seasons, but the prospect of proper soft ground this time around has perhaps turned plans upside down for some.