'He ticks all the boxes' - my all-time number one in the preview quote hit parade

As the Flat race preview season enters the final couple of furlongs many Newmarket trainers, racing managers and jockeys can look forward to a winter largely untroubled by the calls for pre-race quotes, particularly at weekends.

With the passing of the season it is not surprising these inquiries have seen some respondents slip in to cliche mode, just to get something over to reporters or put on their own websites in order to concentrate on more pressing matters.

There must be more than 20 extremely well-worn phrases that can be recycled many times over the year and I’ve put together a top 15, with some hidden meanings in brackets, but it was hard to narrow it down even to that number.