The National Hunt season can, at times, feel a little stop-start.
It can seem a long time between big races, or at least competitive big races. The weather can bite, wind, rain, hail, frost and snow can all bring the turf action to a shuddering halt and leave officials wondering when’s the right moment to press the ‘bumpers for jumpers’ panic button..
But in the autumn we gallop on relentlessly.
As Alexei wins the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham, thoughts turn to next week’s Betfair Chase. To be fair they’re never far from Daryl Jacob’s mind.
How can they be when you rode Bristol De Mai?
Together they won the Grade One prize three times, ran in it for six successive seasons. As Jacob looks out on the Cheltenham grandstand after completing a morning’s filming for the Jockey Club, you get a sense he’d give anything for a seventh spin around the Newton-Le-Willows track on the dashing grey.
“One of my best ever days was when Bristol De Mai won his second Betfair Chase against Native River and Might Bite. It’s in the top three days I ever had on a racecourse,” he says.
