JOCKEYS in Ireland, especially in the jumps sphere, are without doubt the best in the world; the strength in depth in the older generation such as Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty, Davy Russell, Paul Carberry, each a household name, has been demonstrated for years. They have shown their brilliance on so many occasions - Ruby, the best I’ve ever seen, coming up the Cheltenham hill in front so many times that you’d swear the video was on repeat; Barry, again and again producing on the big day when it matters. Definitely the saying “you can’t make diamonds without pressure” applies to Barry when it really matters.

Davy swooping late on Lord Windermere in the Gold Cup, timing it perfectly up the Cheltenham run-in like he has done on so many occasions, but as the Frank Sinatra song goes, “then you go and spoil it all” by doing his trademark duck flap celebration … cringeworthy but we’ll forgive him it as he gave us a masterclass moments earlier.