Just how dry has it been over the first few weeks of the core jumps season? Answer: it's complicated . . .

One of the key themes during the early part of the core jumps season in Britain has been the lack of rain, with many trainers complaining they cannot run horses where they had planned to and that they have, in some cases, had to back off in terms of their preparations given the outlook remains dry in the short term.

One high-profile example, Dan Skelton, pulled out four intended runners at Exeter last Friday on account of the ground, the same reason given for every one of the 12 non-runners at the meeting. The situation is even more of an anomaly in Ireland, where Thurles has cancelled two straight meetings and temperatures have been unseasonably warm.

The irony in Britain is that statistically, the autumn as a whole has been much wetter than average.