Richard Birch looks forward to some high-quality racing on the Saturday before Cheltenham

Storm Larisa may be battering some parts of Britain with gales and blizzards but, despite some high-quality ITV4-televised racing action on Saturday from Sandown and Wolverhampton – weather permitting – it’s the relative calm ahead of next week’s four-day Cheltenham Festival hurricane.

So many key questions will soon be answered. Can Galopin Des Champs prove himself the genuine superstar tens of thousands already believe him to be by landing the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup?

Will Constitution Hill take the next step to proving himself perhaps the best hurdler of all-time by brushing aside State Man in the Unibet Champion Hurdle?