Whip rules put Cheltenham on the line for jockeys - and the Eider could be the elephant trap

With due respect to those who urge us to live in the moment and celebrate each individual race as it reaches us, this is one of those Saturdays that has always been about the future. Win if you can, but what comes next is what really matters, that's the sort of vibe.

So perhaps we should be grateful to our shiny new whip rules for introducing an extra element of tension and drama. The game now is not just making sure that your horse is ready for mid-March but also that your jockey will be available to ride them.

Any whip ban incurred this weekend will start to run on day one of the Cheltenham Festival. The only exceptions are for bans of four days or fewer, which can be deferred if there's top-class racing on, so jockeys found guilty of the most minor infractions will be able to sigh with relief and move on. If you ride horses over fences at speed, you get used to flirting with disaster.