The Brit Pack are here.
For once there are four legitimate contenders for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup among the home team.
After three fences they are in the formation we expected. Haiti Couleurs has worked himself to the front, The Jukebox Man in close proximity alongside Grey Dawning. In the row behind is Jango Baie.
The problem for team GB is so is Gaelic Warrior.
And with every fence, every slick jump, he’s gathering momentum.
At the top of the hill on the final circuit things begin to change. Three out the leader is in trouble and beating a retreat.
Heading to the second last now and push is coming to shove for Grey Dawning and The Jukebox Man, for whom news of a late scare for connections broke earlier in the day.
“He had a pimple on the underside of his epiglottis that we had to remove," Ben Pauling says afterwards. "It was no big gig, but I think, in hindsight now, maybe that was going to cause us more trouble than we thought might be the case, but he was in great form coming here and he looked a picture.
“He travelled and jumped as well as any of them and if you stopped the race at the top of the hill you would have fancied your chances. You can’t be anything but 100% in these races.
“He had it removed about a fortnight a go and it wasn’t worth mentioning at the time as it was something of nothing."
