Heady days of Floyd are a long time ago as Kingwell loses status as a proper Champion Hurdle trial

It was always a day ringed in the calendar when I was a child. As a jumps-mad youngster growing up in Desert Orchid country in Hampshire, there was only one racecourse that mattered within easy distance (Salisbury didn’t count) and its big day came on a Thursday in mid-February: Kingwell Hurdle day.

With the help of a gullible headteacher who didn’t twig that stomach bugs always seemed to fall around the same time of year, it became a staple in the Hill household and I can still remember seeing the legendary Floyd winning back-to-back runnings, followed by subsequent Champion Hurdle hero Kribensis the next year.

The race maintained its status as a true Champion Hurdle trial for the two decades that followed, with Alderbrook, Hors La Loi and Katchit others to pull off the Wincanton-Cheltenham double. But it’s fair to say none of this year’s field will be troubling Constitution Hill or State Man, and it’s certainly not a date that will be ringed in anyone’s calendar. Well, except perhaps Goshen's, the horse who has single-handedly carried the race in recent times.