LAST Wednesday I was standing on the tarmac at Le Bourget airport when a low flying plane nearly parted my hair. Sure enough, it was a party of Ireland’s most famous National Hunt trainers.

When the door of the chartered plane opened I was able to confirm that Des McDonagh, Arthur Moore, Andy Geraghty, Paddy Mullins and Basil Brindley, Bill Durkan and Noel Meade were all present and correct. Brindley was in cracking form from the start and I later learned that his hatred for small planes had forced him to pour an additive into his morning coffee.