'This is legend!' - how Flooring Porter's amazing owners encapsulate the drama

Jump races are enthralling from beginning to end, as all right-thinking persons realise, but you might not always know it if your only guide was the noise from the stands.

One of the many ways in which the Cheltenham Festival differs from any other meeting is that the crowd reacts, volubly and distinctly, all the way through contests that might last seven minutes, drawing the less committed into the intoxicating swirl of madness.

To the untutored eye, Thursday's opener might have seemed to be a novice chase with just two serious contenders, the sort of thing that might be judged a snooze-fest if it happened on a Wednesday at Southwell.