Solwhit has produced a dirty scope, Punchestowns is intermittently lame and across Britain and Ireland dozens of trainers are fretting.

The Cheltenham Festival is just eight days away and yet horses are finding ever more inventive ways of putting themselves on the easy list. This week those trainers with hopes for the Cheltenham Festival will stand on the gallops each morning with fingers crossed, just hoping that nothing else goes wrong. For those who eventually manage to get their horses to the start there will no doubt be a sigh of relief.

Compared to this level of stress winning the races should be easy enough.