New names and an unexpected fan favourite salvage a damp festival feeling

Jeremy Scott surely wouldn’t be anyone’s idea of an obvious cult hero. The restrained, unpretentious former dairy farmer is the kind of man you might meet at a stile when out walking on Exmoor, who would let you make a fuss of his dog and tell you something interesting about the surrounding countryside.

If this sounds in any way patronising, it is intended to illustrate how surreal it was at Cheltenham to see him incarnated as Michael Van Gerwen, serenaded with the same rowdy chanting of his name to the Dutch darts idol's Seven Nation Army theme tune by 30 or so adoring fans before he punched the air and rushed over to be embraced by them.

The victory of Scott’s Golden Ace in the Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle had been one of the highlights of a Thursday which had brought the meeting back to life.