ALREADY the Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson Cheltenham Festival permutations are beginning to take shape, as in, we are getting to know what the possible permutations are, as opposed to what the make-up of the teams will be.

So, if Min goes for the Arkle, does that mean that Yorkhill would run in the JLT? You could run both in the Arkle, it being the more prestigious race, with its roots embedded deep in Cheltenham Festival history.

Or you could run Yorkhill in the Arkle and Min in the JLT, but Min’s owner Susannah Ricci also owns American Tom, who could be more a JLT horse than an Arkle horse, and Min looks like an Arkle horse all over.

If Nicky Henderson runs Altior in the Arkle, does that mean that Buveur D’Air would run in the JLT? Certainly, after Buveur D’Air won impressively on his chasing bow at Haydock on Saturday, the talk was of keeping both horses away from each other. But it may be keeping both horses away from each other until Cheltenham, not up to and including Cheltenham.

Buveur D’Air’s owner J.P. McManus is synonymous with the Cheltenham Festival (ref. “roots embedded” above) and the Crillon gelding looks like an Arkle horse so the chances are that his owner will want him to run in the Arkle. And he could have Anibale Fly or even Coney Island for the JLT anyway.