greatness must be reflected in the record books, Jacobs & and renewed hope the irish invasion might yet be repelled.

​Greatness has been bestowed on Constitution Hill, Sir Gino and Galopin Des Champs over the festive period and in the first two named it is too premature. 
To my mind, Galopin Des Champs is approaching greatness. He is, in my estimation, a better horse than Best Mate, though below Kauto Star and Denman. Arkle is way out of sight of any steeplechaser in the history of the sport you can mention.
I have no doubt, given sporting luck, that Galopin Des Champs will become the next horse to achieve three victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. At a time, especially in Ireland, where there are a plethora of high-class or close to high-class chasers around, over a distance of 3-miles + Galopin Des Champs is by far the leader of the pack. The only possible chance of beating him would be to take him on from flag-fall and not to allow him an uncontested lead, which happens too often in Ireland in races that involve Mullins hotpots.
The problem with comparing the great horses of the present-day with those of previous decades is that it is not a case of comparing apples with apples. Because of his superiority, the few condition races around in his time were a cakewalk for Arkle and once he had disposed of Mill House there was not a horse in any kingdom that could even get him off the bridle. Handicaps were more of a struggle for him, though he won more of them than he lost. The horses who did finish in front of him, always receiving weight in the region of between 2 and 3-stone, are better remembered than some Champion Hurdle winners. Today, the top chasers never have to run in handicaps, which is why Desert Orchid and Denman were so special to racegoers. Why horses in the past could carry top weight in handicaps and still win at the Cheltenham Festival, while today’s trainers seem to think of handicaps for their top chasers akin to the actions of kamikaze pilots in the 2nd World War, is beyond me. Are our horses today more brittle and less hardy than the likes of Desert Orchid and all those great chasers that came before him?
A third Gold Cup will put Galopin Des Champs in a club that only allows membership to the superstar horses of the sport. It is a club without Arkle, and I would suggest Golden Miller – 5 Gold Cups and a Grand National allows him a status beyond ordinary greatness – as today’s horses are not as tested as they were. Arkle and Golden Miller are the exemplification of singular greatness and even Galopin will struggle to sit beside them in the history books.
People who declare Constitution Hill the best hurdler of all-time or even one of the all-time greats are doing a major injustice to the champions who have gone before. Apart from horses trained by Willie Mullins, and they rarely have to exert themselves to run-up long sequences of wins, there is not a horse in training, apart from Constitution Hill, to rank within 20Ibs of many, and it is a long list, of the hurdlers that have gone before. From Sir Ken to Istabraq to start with. On my bookshelf I have biographies of Monksfield, Sea Pigeon and Persian War. Then there is, according to some, Night Nurse, the greatest of them all. Bula, Comedy of Errors. Horses that ran against one another, along with horses of the calibre of Bird’s Nest and Dramatist. Horses like Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace who won highly competitive Champion Hurdles.
I am not crabbing Constitution Hill. But so far he has only won one race of note and that was his Champion Hurdle demolition of Jonbon. It can be argued that State Man has won more races of note and he might land another today at Leopardstown. With the standard of hurdler we have at present, I would contend that three Champion Hurdles will not necessarily make Constitution Hill the equal of Sea Pigeon, Night Nurse or Istabraq. In my book, to achieve everlasting greatness, great horses must beat other great horses. It is not Constitution Hill’s fault he is in a league of his own. Neither is it his fault that people who should know better, to create a narrative in an attempt to boost awareness of the sport, use hyperbole when comparison is all that is required.
I laugh when, after one novice chase, people who should know better, Rishi Persad, for one, honour a horse with greatness. Warning, ahorse ran at Leopardstown yesterday who is the poster boy for greatness unachieved, Bob Olinger. That there was Samcro. My Drogo had the world at his hooves, now he is running in point-to-points. Sir Gino was brilliant, yes. Yet Willie Mullins has conceded that Ballyburn is a stayer not a 2-mile horse and if that proves the case, in many ways Sir Gino beat nothing of value at Kempton. Stay grounded, keep your fingers crossed and let history play out. At the moment, Sir Gino has the potential to be very good. That is all. This sport can kick like a mule when focus is lost in a maze of hyperbole.

The best and brightest thing to come from the festive period was the hope instilled in us for the Cheltenham Festival. The tide is turning, folks, and in The Jukebox Man and The New Lion there is renewed hope that two British trainers may yet play starring roles come March.

Today, after announcing his plan to bring forward his retirement, Daryl Jacob will have his last ride as a licenced jockey. He has always been one of my favourite jockeys. A jockey who had no concerns about displaying his love of the horses he rode. A great jockey and without knowing him personally, I suspect a great bloke, too.