MODERN day Cheltenham isn’t the same without a Willie Mullins-trained, Susannah Ricci-owned favourite for the curtain raising Supreme Novice Hurdle.

Vautour, Douvan, Min and Mel… No Melon wasn’t a Ricci horse, much to the disgust of the fast bettors who got word of the annual potential French import burning up the gallops at Closutton last year and clicked first before asking questions later.