'It's very ominous' - Henderson heads home worried but with a winner

As big-race favourite Balco Coastal was pulled up by Nico de Boinville in front of Sandown's final flight, almost a furlong up the track and many lengths clear of his nearest British pursuers was an Irish-trained 20-1 shot running from a mark 6lb higher than his domestic rating and on ground much slower than he likes. On top of all that, Suprise Package even had a spelling mistake to overcome.

Three days out from the sport's finest meeting, it was a portentous sign.

Let us not make this sound starker than it was for Britain's Cheltenham Festival prospects. True, Peter Fahey popped over from Monasterevin and captured the Paddy Power Imperial Cup, but in the very next contest Balco Coastal's trainer Nicky Henderson sent out his first winner in almost three weeks, while Paul Nicholls swept past the £2 million mark for the campaign earlier in the card. They had good days. Fahey had an even better one.