Nicky Henderson: It's a horrible time - every day you're looking for trouble

The evolution of the Cheltenham Festival from racing championship to feverish national obsession has occurred at a pace that would have doubtless made Darwin rub his eyes in disbelief. In the space of a single lifetime this unique occasion has transformed itself to dominate the landscape, and as it has grown its gestation period has extended, now beginning shortly after Royal Ascot and ending with a spectacular birth the following March.

No racing event begins to compare with these four days of mayhem and fervour. For those of us on its fringes the anticipation is prodigious, so try to imagine the weight of expectation for those who exist in the eye of the festival storm, knowing it has the power to define their careers, year in and year out.

For Nicky Henderson, perhaps more than any other trainer, Cheltenham is the be-all and end-all of his professional life. He has accumulated 64 winners there down the years to safeguard his sanity, but every year begins with a new set of demands, so maybe it is no surprise that the lead-up to the opening race of the opening day is not an altogether restful time at his Seven Barrows yard.