THE calm before the storm. Last weekend’s jumps action in Ireland and Britain had a definite feeling that something bigger – much bigger – was just around the corner. A Grade 2, a Grade 3, and a couple of listed races were the best there was to go at.

That Grade 2 – a novices’ hurdle at Kelso – was weakened further by the under-performance of the odds-on favourite Getaway Trump, but it would be wrong to imagine that Rouge Vif achieved little in winning.