Poor old Latalomne - let's hope all next week's Cheltenham heroes avoid his calamitous fate

If you live the right way for long enough, your brain becomes little more than a repository for memories of the Cheltenham Festival. It's not just the champions who rattle around in there but also a ton of stuff that has drifted into obscurity, like Encore Un Peu somehow failing to win the Kim Muir despite turning for home about a minute before anything else.

In early March, you can get a clue as to how you're feeling about life just by considering which festival memory has popped up that morning. Barry Geraghty taking a pull on Kicking King at the top of the hill, or at the home turn on The Druids Nephew – those are for the good days. Istabraq pulling up after two flights, then getting cascades of applause while the Champion Hurdle was still being run – that might indicate wistfulness for fallen heroes or lost certainties.

You know it's a bad day when the image in your head is of Latalomne. You might already know the incident I mean. On Sunday, it will be 20 years to the day.