Cheltenham’s long awaited return proves romance lives on in jumps racing

• Outsider wins Sharp Novices’ Hurdle at 20-1

• Trainer John Dawson gets better of Dan Skelton

The jumping game increasingly resembles the Flat when it comes to the concentration of racing power in ever fewer trainers’ hands, but the opening day of Cheltenham’s new season – the first, in fact, since Gold Cup day in March – brought a reminder that romance has not been drained entirely from the winter code.

Dan Skelton, who dethroned Willie Mullins to become the new champion over jumps last season, had already trained 115 winners in the current campaign before racing on Friday, nearly halfway towards Martin Pipe’s all-time record of 243. John Dawson, by contrast, had sent out a total of six winners from his yard in North Yorkshire since May 2023.

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