At the time it could be dismissed as nothing more than one of the quirks of superstition that run through sport.

Caracciola had just become the oldest horse in modern times to win a Royal Ascot race in the Queen Alexandra Stakes, the longest race in the Flat calendar. However, there was no sign of winning trainer Nicky Henderson to welcome his first winner at the royal meeting.

It was left to Caracciola’s owner, Piers Pottinger, to explain Henderson’s absence in favour of a trip to Scotland. “The trainer is fishing,” Pottinger said. “I’ve banned him from turning up because Caracciola only wins a big race when he’s not here.”

Cue laughter at the eccentricity of it all coming after Henderson, 59 but going on about 19 in terms of enthusiasm, had enjoyed one of his best jump seasons, breaking both a century of winners and £2 million prize money for the first time.

However, the laughter had long since died away a month later when news broke of the disciplinary hearings at which Henderson was deemed in breach of four Rules of racing after a horse owned by the Queen, Moonlit Path, had tested positive for a banned substance following a novices’ hurdle at Huntingdon in February.

Henderson was fined £40,000 and received a three-month suspension from having runners from his Lambourn stable. The ban ended in early October, just when the trainer would have been getting into gear for the core part of the jumps season.

At the time there was a question over how much the ban, or at least the adverse publicity generated by it, might have affected Henderson. No-one who has come into contact with Henderson during a blemish-free training career that stretches back over 30 years believed that the substance, an anti-bleeding drug called transemic acid, had been administered with anything but the best intentions in terms of horse welfare, not that such knowledge made the time any easier for Henderson. “It made me feel like a common criminal,” he said in an interview with The Times just before his ban ended. “It was the worst experience I’ve ever had. Just terrifying.”

Any terrors that Henderson may have had in terms of the loyalty of his owners were unjustified as not only did everyone stay, but Seven Barrows has 150 horses – the most that Henderson has ever gone to war with and, so far, most of the battles are being won.

It took just 10 days for Henderson to saddle his first winner and since then his statistics have been better than ever. There may have been some high-profile reverses for Binocular in the “Fighting Fifth” Hurdle at Newcastle in November and Punjabi in the boylesports.com International Hurdle at Cheltenham, although Zaynar’s victory on the same card balanced the books and all three still look likely contenders to give Henderson a fifth winner in the Champion Hurdle next March.

His season’s strike-rate stands at 32%, which is better than his recent overall mark of 21%. In keeping with those four Champion Hurdle victories, Henderson’s strike-rate in that discipline normally slightly exceeds the performance of his chasers. This time, however, while the hurdlers are on a strike-rate of 32% his chasers are excelling at 39%, which is even better than that of Paul Nicholls’s chasers. 

Those chasing a profit should note that Henderson’s run of form shows little signing of waning, as evidenced by him saddling nine winners in the previous seven days and he is often the trainer to follow at Kempton’s two-day Christmas fixture.

Henderson’s overall record at Kempton is a very competitive 28% but his strike-rate at this meeting over the last four years (including 2005 when it was run at Sandown) is 33%.

The man to follow? He makes it look as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.