BE careful when you get to the Champion Bumper at these pre-Cheltenham evenings, be careful that you don’t just figure out what is the best of the Irish and write that one down.

The Champion Bumper is not the Irish-fest that it once was. There have been 23 runnings of the Bumper now. The Irish won six of the first seven renewals and 14 of the first 17. However, the last six renewals have been shared, three for Ireland, three for Britain, and last year British-trained horses filled the first four places. There are bumper horses in Britain now too you know.