ANYONE watching RacingTV last Saturday will have enjoyed a few decades of replays of the Whitbread Gold Cups, traditionally the big chase finale of the National Hunt season.

In the 80s and 90s it attracted the top chasers, won by Desert Orchid in 1988 and by the Grand National winner Mr Frisk two years later. In recent years, under different sponsors, it has lost a lot of its attraction and quality – Henllan Harri anyone?