MICHAEL O’Leary once famously remarked: “People say the customer is always right, but you know what? They’re not. Sometimes, they are wrong and need to be told so.”

As racing purists, we are often resistant to change - especially when it comes to parts of the sport that we cherish the most. The Cheltenham Festival certainly falls into that bracket, and the case for protecting its sanctity almost always comes from a place of love for the meeting.